Revenge's Reaper
by Desenchanter
Summary: Abused and left for dead, Rin runs into a uniquely broken man. He was incapable of feelings in less blood dripped from his blade. Finally, she gave him real reason to kill & someone to accept the dark abyss within him—since she had an equally endless one
1. The Birth of Darkness

**Summary**: Abused and left for dead, Rin runs into a uniquely broken man. He was incapable of feelings in less blood dripped from his blade. Finally, she gave him real reason to kill & someone to accept the dark abyss within him—since she had an equally endless one.

**Pairing**: Rin x Sesshomaru  
**Story Warnings**: Rape/Implied-Rape (_not descriptive_), Implied Abuse/Violent Sex, Pedophilia (_age 15 & not on Sesshomaru's part_), Violence, Blood/Gore, Sexual Content, & Lewd Language—if one or all of these topics bother you; this probably isn't the story for you

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**.|.****R**_evenge's_ **R**_eaper_**.|.  
**•.**C**_hapter_** O**_ne:_** T**_he_** B**_irth of _**D**_arkness_.•

**oooOoOooo**

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**Stumbling steps showed her the way home, nothing but the slimming sunlight from twilight's fall to lead her way. It was the scummy outskirts of Kyoto that she sought refuge, within a one bedroom apartment on the fifth floor of a crappy complex that she crawled her way up the stairs to. Never before had she been so relieved to see the number _543_ in her life. She didn't even care how the three was well on its way to turning over completely, only hanging in there by one nail and some glue.

Sobs were swallowed back as she fumbled to open the door with her dirt ridden hands covered in flakes of ruby red and scabs. For a second her broken nails, some so far that it made her fingers bleed all the more, caught her attention and a _horrid_ memory came to surface—_with nails that were once painted pink, she clawed at the hard, cold, iron around her wrists_.

Sharp breaths in snapped her back as the door opened up, she couldn't help but frown all the more at that. Did her mother never learn to _lock_ the door? It wasn't a safe world… monsters lurked around every corner.

Her dusty coffee colored eyes shifted around the dimly lit living room then to the other half that was a kitchen.

"Rin!" she cringed at the coarse curve of the word while her eyes landed upon the wobbly woman who held a nearly empty bottle of brandy in her hand.

"Mom," Rin wanted whimper but nothing came out of her quivering lips.

"What's wrong with you?" the elder lady that had not changed out of her pajamas in God only knows how long hissed with a wave of her hand towards the sink. "Dishes haven't been done in forever!"

Dishes… that was pushing it, it was more like her drinking glasses hadn't been cleaned in _seven_ days—that was probably why she drank straight from the bottle. There were five dishes, four of which were from Rin herself the two days before her… her… she shook her head and blinked away the tears that swelled in her eyes. Her mother was a skinny women, she only ate when she remembered to, half the time she was too drunk to realizes that food was a necessity.

"And the living room's a mess!" She declared as she kicked some of the derby about, "you're supposed to clean every other day!"

"I've been gone for a week," she meant to scream but it didn't come out at all, just an incoherent crackle of sounds—her throat still sore from all her cries for mercy and help making her vocal cords mute. All the while she had hoped and prayed her mother had noticed her absence and reported it to the police... that someone was out there looking for her when in reality no one apparently gave a fuck.

"Get cleanin' girl," her mother insisted with another wave of her bottle, it slipped out of her drunken grip and fell upon the floor, letting the dark liquid pool out. "Damn it, Rin! Look what you've done!"

Having a father that walked out of her when she was just an infant was something she had dealt with ages ago but a mother that drank almost nonstop to cope with that reality…? That she had never accepted, that hurt each time her mother's words start to slur. The realization, though, that all the alcohol made it simple for her mother to not even notice her gone for seven sickening days made her fumble as she ran into the bathroom to drop to her knees and vomit.

Everything swirled around as she grasped the sink to help her stand up—the water she used to risen her mouth made her finally realize how thirsty she really was. She dipped her head below running water with an open mouth, swallowing so much down that she felt she might explode. At first, she thought it would be a good idea to wash her hands but then… she just stared at them, the scratched up, dirt ridden, things that they were.

All she knew for certain in that moment was that she had to get the _hell_ out of her home—the one place she had yearned to return to the entire time that… no, she shook her head from that thought as she turned around and rushed to the bedroom her mother and her shared. She grasped a sweater to cover the rags she wore, it was a size too big so it had to be her mother's—that and it was an ugly orange color.

That didn't matter to her; she found a pair of her sneakers and slid them on her bare feet before she made her way out of the apartment, swearing to herself never to return in the process. She rubbed her throat as she looked back at the door she slammed shut, finally freeing the glow that kept the three up, allowing it to topple over so it looked more like an E. She hadn't anything to really say to her mother and even if she wanted to… her words wouldn't come out. Her throat was torn up from screaming to heartless monsters.

Seven days ago… she could barely believe it, it seemed like an eternity.

_Walking home from school alone wasn't the best of ideas for a fifteen year old girl but it was only one more block until her apartment complex, her friends lived in a different direction. They had done it a thousand times without thinking twice about splitting up to go their own ways. The night was about to cascaded across the sky to top it off. Generally, she got back to school around four to four thirty because of her clubs but that night she had gone to a karaoke bar to celebrate the sixteenth birthday of one of her friends, it was just a cruel reminder that she was the youngest in the girl. _

_As soon as a rather choppy man with thick black glasses walked up to her, some sweat dripping from his long forehead, she knew she needed to get the hell away from him._

"_Pardon me," she whispered as she stepped aside only to be countered by his own movement, "excuse me."_

"_So cute," he grumbled as his constantly scanning eyes shifted about the empty corner before his fat fingers were placed on her mouth and arm around her throat. "So fucking cute."_

_Instantly, she began to mumble and kick her feet as he pulled her off the ground while a unmarked white van spun around the corner. The moment the door opened a man placed a black bag over her head as she was thrown upon the hard floor. Her hands were then tied together; along with her feet no matter how much she tried to struggle it did not matter. _

_That was the start of her hell. _

A deep breath stung her horse throat, sparked by the sight of a police officer. Maybe everything could be made right? Maybe he could bring them to justice? Maybe… the world wasn't such a sick and horrible place? Once she reached him she extended her hand to grab his sleeve and earn his attention, instantly one of his thick, furry, brows bent up.

"What the fuck?" he grumbled, "what do you want?"

"I…" she managed to get out before clearing her throat, "I…"

"What are you on?" he asked with a sigh, "huh? Teens these days, getting drugged out earlier and earlier—what are you, fourteen?"

_How_, How could he ask her that? She chocked as she stumbled back.

"Sweetheart," she heard a high-pitched woman proclaim as she stepped out of the liquor store with a white long dress and fake curly blonde hair, a penciled on mole upon her left cheek. Rin's brows bent together as her coffee glance quickly moved between the two. "Who's this? What costume are you supposed to be wearing, little girl? Where are your parents?"

Marilyn _fucking_ Monroe hanging all over a cop? It was October… the end of it, Halloween. She shook her head swiftly as she walked forward. Her stare altered between costumes to costume, some of grotesque creatures. Seeing all the masks of monsters made her her quicken he pace, her eyes trying to avert them all. How was this fun? It made her want to cry, but no tears would roll down her cheek just yet. She had just lived through a week of monsters… what was she supposed to do?

_A blindfold was wrapped around her eyes the first time a man came into the room she was kept in, her wrists locked in iron handcuffs along with her ankles. She had already made her skin raw with her attempts at escaping them but... she'd never break free. _

"_Hot damn, you are a cute little thing, ain't ya?" he inquired with his thick Osaka accent—something she had never been fond of, only then she was given a real reason to detest it._

"_Get away!" She screamed the second she felt his touch against her bare legs, she had passed out along the ride and when she awoke her clothes were gone… nothing but the fall breeze against her bare skin._

"_No, baby, I'm paying good money to my friend to get an hour with ya'—_real_ good money to be the first," he bragged as he ran his hand up her thighs to her center. That was what made her scream the first time, and what sparked him to push a smelly dirty-sock into her mouth._

_She closed her eyes tightly when she felt him pry open her legs wide to thrust into her, causing nothing but pain and muffled screams for her first hour of misery. _

Her mind was snapped away from her first nightmarish experience to someone donned in pure black with a bloody mask who screamed _boo_ out to her. It startled her enough that she grabbed her heart from below the long orange sleeves, but no yelp of her own came out.

"I'm a big bad boogey man, bitch! I'm going to tear you to pieces!" he tried to have a gruff voice but it cracked once, he was probably only a couple years older than her at most… but the terror she felt was real enough and splattered across her expression so much so that he pulled up his mask to show his pink pimpled face. "Sorry, girl, I was dared to by my friends, don't cry. I'm not really a monster or anything."

All she did was shake her head as she pushed passed him to start to run away from the crowd of Kyoto, her home city since birth…

_Screams constantly left her lips at the sting of a whip against her back, her hands locked together in front of her against the bedpost, tears trickling down her eyes at all the cruel words that left the assaulters mouth. Ritualistically, after the third hit he'd cast his weapon to the side before he crawl onto the bed behind the kneeling girl. One of his hands would yank her hip up with the other inserted three fingers into her mouth to keep her from screaming. The taste of his dirt covered, sweaty, fingers was what she remembered the most before he started to do her from behind._

When she found a quite place, an abandoned warehouse of sorts, that was far away from all the Halloween chaos she decided it was secluded enough that… why not just go ahead and die there? How could she live with what had happened to her? There were still open wounds on her back, cuts all up and down her legs and arms, and so much else wrong with her that why the hell not just let all the problems kill her?

_How_ could she ever put the nightmare behind her and find a way to live happily ever after…? No, that reality was left far, far behind her.

"_You'd be dead soon," was how the next rapist would start each session. His voice was always so hoarse, gruff, grotesque. He would never gag her because, "I love to hear you scream for me. Do it all you want, it doesn't make a difference—no one's going to find you. I'll be the one to cut you open from stomach to throat once we're done with you, like _all_ the other girls."_

_The talk of blood and gore, of the way her guts would look once he slit her open, was what got him off before he began to bang into her violently. _

A rustling noise caught her attention, grunts and grumbles caused her heart to freeze as she slowly walked over to the door of the warehouse to take a glance inside. All she wanted to do was see…

_There was the voyeur, the guy that grabbed her—she recognized his voice, the same nasally one that called her cute. He'd just sit somewhere across the room, she supposed, it was just his hard breathing that made her realize he was there at all before he'd tie her to a chair, her legs spread so he could see every bit of her… she heard his grunts as he pleased himself just at the sight of her, mutter how _cute_ she was all the while._

_The vile voyeur was the best out of the five that would repetitively rape her, at least he never really touched her… that was better, she supposed._

Cautiously, she tilted out from behind the door to see a dimly lit room where a tall, slender, man stood. Somehow he shimmered in the darkness; his long silver strands glowed as bright as the moon, his pale skin seemed heavenly as well. Instantly, she thought he was beautiful—like a piece of artwork, a statue, something to be admired from afar… after a few blinks her gaze altered to the man before him, covered in sweat, his big eyes bulging as he tried to struggle free from the rope around his hands that kept him hanging off the ground, his feet also tied up.

He hung above black plastic bags spewed across the ground. She wasn't sure what to make of the scene. Were they playing out some sort of Halloween play? Was it a prank? For the most part, she didn't really care what he was up to… somehow; it just made her feel better to stare at him before the glimmer of a knife caught her attention. She titled her head slightly to see it better. Slowly, the silver haired man stabbed the blade into the man's chest right below his ribs, at an upward slant.

_A man of slim build, she could feel that when his body was pressed against hers, was the one she hated to see the most. Only because he came more frequently than the man with the whip and the throbbing pain of his blade was far worse than the sting of the other man's lashes. The silence was eerie as well._

_He never spoke a single word to her, there was just the smell of Shichimi_ _Togarashi dug deep into his skin to identify it was him before the cold blade touched her. He'd slide it up her bare stomach not cutting her at all just to see her scrum, the terror contort on her face, before minutes past by with nothing but the sound of a blow torch. Then… the burning blade would start to slice her legs and arms, not deep, just enough to spark some blood. He'd lick it off of her as he fondled him from below._

_The entire time she was petrified he'd thrust his knife into her core. _

Her world began to spin from that memory… or was it the blood loss? She barely noticed the red stains starting to show all over her ruined orange sweater as she fell to the ground. Everything seemed to be in slow motion after her bare knees touched the cold concrete, her lids shut halfway as she watched the glowing man turn his intention instantly in search of the sound. He slid his blade, dripping of blood, out of the man before his stare landed on her.

It was amazing how much his gaze remaindered her of the sun… something she had not seen in a week. A smile shifted up her perched, chapped, lips as he began to walk over to her. To her, it seemed as if he were floating on air. Even then, she knew she should have been scared of him but… she wasn't.

Maybe he'd free her from all her pain then and there with that knife. The way he had stabbed that man seemed so clean and efficient, stopping the struggle of the hanging man quickly before his body grew lifelessly limp. If it were by a man that looked like a god, she'd accept death… it was better than the five disgusting monsters getting a hold of her again.

Carelessly she fell to the side so her head hit the concrete, her eyes fluttering shut when he was merely a few steps away from her. The bland expression cascaded across his face was interesting—she wished she could seem so careless.

She wished she could feel nothing… then her world went black, praying all the while that when—_if_—she opened her eyes it wouldn't have been a dream. That she had really gotten away from them… that she would end up in that vulgar room. The room that gave birth to the darkness that would begin to fester within her—a desire that only the slender, silver haired man could understand, accept and allow to grow.

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**oooOoOooo**

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_A/N_**_: I had this idea and decided the only couple that I thought would work really well for this story is Sesshomaru and Rin. This is the first story I've written centering the two characters, let alone their romantic relations. Hope you enjoy and please **review**._


	2. Darkness Warps Wounds

**Chapter Warnings**: Flash back of assault

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**.|.****R**_evenge's_ **R**_eaper_**.|.  
**•.**C**_hapter_** T**_wo:_**D**_arkness _**W**_arps _**W**_ounds_.•  
**oooOoOooo  


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Gradually, groggily, the girl found her way back to consciousness—through the fog of endless aches. Nightmares that would forever haunt her and memories of an empty childhood swarmed her head until she finally pried her eyes open, breaking the seal of sleep in the process to see… an unfamiliar room. Panic struck her at first, as she sat up as straight as can be only to feel the sting of yet to be healed wounds upon her body beg her never to do that again.

She swallowed as she slowly laid back down, letting her brown eyes shift around. It wasn't the dusty, dirty, and dank of a room that she had been stuck in for seven whole days… it wasn't even the shared, shitty, room that usually had clothes spewed across it from her family's apartment. Where she was… was completely different. One word could explain it completely—_lavished_. An absolutely, outstanding room with a ridiculously comfortable futon…

It was also utterly de-modernized from the appearance, no western bed, nothing but sliding doors, and old artwork. What, had she gone back in time? Was she stuck in a museum of some sort? Honestly, she was well aware that she should be more concerned with her whereabouts but since she wasn't tied up and there was no leverage in order for her to _be_ tied up—the benefits of a futon, she had to admit, no bed post.

That was when she finally looked over herself. All her wounds were covered by bandages, the gross shirt she had found before fleeing from her captures was gone and the orange sweater that had blood stains from her seeping wounds was also absent. She wore a yukata instead; a plain light yellow and orange checkered pattern was plastered upon it.

Cautiously, that caught her attention enough that she got to her feet to feel her body all around—more bandages were below it, covering the worse wounds… someone had _changed_ her. Someone had seen _all_ of her. The notion still made her sick, regardless of what five strangers had done to her. That did _not_ make it okay for any other stranger to take her clothes off.

Her hectic breath stopped all together when a door opened up to show a toad like creature, it stared blankly at her and her agape mouth. Quickly, her hands fled up to cover her mouth. What monster was this? Had her trauma made her go mad?

"You are awake," it finally said, in a male yet squeaky voice.

Again, her eyes scanned about to see if there was any way out beside the door it stood by before she returned to see that another had walked up to the door, the man from the night before with a livid liquid golden gaze. Which brought up the most important question—_what_ had happened?

Slowly, it returned. Her endless wandering to the empty warehouse where he was there, it was Halloween though so was what she saw an act or did he really… really kill someone? And if so, why didn't he just take her life? _Why_ couldn't he give her that sweet release? Free her from the nightmares that will forever haunt her?

"Mi'lord, she's awake," the toad repeated as he looked up to the lanky, lean man.

"I can see that, Jaken," he replied in a voice that matched his expression perfectly—_stoic_ with a hint of seriousness. It was hard to imagine the man smiled, let alone ever joked.

Slowly she let her hands slid down her face before clenching it in front of her chest and looking away. A part of her wanted to say something but, truly, nothing could come out straight and… what was there to say? Screams were the last things she let out, pleas for those who hurt her to stop, but they didn't… so what was the point of talking? For some reason, she wasn't frightened by _this _stranger either.

"Of course you can, Sesshomaru-sama, I did not meant to imply—"

"Be silent, Jaken," he cut off his babbling servant and waved him off, with a bow of his head, he walked away. "You…" he slowly started, "saw me."

She hadn't the faintest idea of what he was talking about, but she didn't say that, she only looked back up at him.

"You're injuries," he again paused, letting his gaze shift over her—absent of any sympathy, and for that she was oddly thankful. Other's pity wasn't exactly something she'd enjoy. His subject altered, "what is your name?"

A shrug wasn't the answer he was looking for, but it was all she meant to give him. Irritation flickered over him for a moment, or perhaps she was simply hallucinating.

"Do you talk?" he questioned, a heavy sigh left his lips at the end of that.

She shook her head.

"Good," and with that, he left.

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**oooOoOooo**

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**Days trickled away into a week, and with that time she figured out a few things. Jaken was something strange but certainly a servant to Sesshomaru, who the toad praised for being one of the few youkai left in the world. He claimed to be one, too, but Rin found that hard to believe. He was probably an imp and just didn't want to deem himself as such, after all if youkai were real then why not imps, too?

Monsters were real… so real.

_"No, no, no, no, no!" She begged, over and over again, as she shut her eyes tightly behind the blindfold she wore, turning her face away from the one that loomed above her. He reeked of_ _Shichimi Togarashi, something that used to bring her joy, one of her favorite spices, and now… now it was just a sign of burning blades to come. The worse part, he never said a goddamn word. But sometimes… sometimes he'd press his lips to her neck, so she could _feel_ his smile at hearing her cries for mercy._

_Mercy that was never given…_ not even by an alluring silver haired youkai. For the entire time she was at his not-so-humble-abode she had tried to figure out if what she saw was real or staged, if it were real wouldn't he have been more concerned with the fact that she had _witnessed_ him murdering another? Yeah… it was probably fake, since he didn't grant her the gift of death like she had so dearly wished. As she still did.

While she kneeled upon a cushion in front of the table, her eyes were stuck on the knife that Jaken was using to prepare her food—which, she had noted, he hated to do. If he had his way, she would be dead in a ditch somewhere. That knife… just two long slits up the wrist and all would fade away. It couldn't hurt _that_ bad, not worse than what the five feigns had done to her.

"Girl!" Jaken called out to catch her attention; gradually her dull deep brown eyes moved up to him, "you should learn to speak when spoken to."

Had he been talking? She hadn't noticed. In response, she merely tilted her head—a silent request to repeat whatever he had been babbling about.

"Where did you get all those wounds?" that was a constant inquiry by him, Sesshomaru had ceased to ask after the first attempt. Actually, that was the only time he had spoken to her. She had seen him within the home but only from afar, he didn't appear much interested in her existence, let alone her well being. "You are very lucky Sesshomaru-sama decided to bring you back here and had that old hag of a healer come tend to you or else you would be dead."

Lucky, that wasn't exactly the word she would use. But the fact that an elder lady, the same one that kept checking on her every other day, was the one that cleaned and changed her the first time was a comforting one.

"Sesshomaru-sama is a great youkai," Jaken nodded as he grabbed the steaming bowl cautiously to carry it over to her, "why he cares to give time to a mere mortal is beyond my comprehension."

As soon as the bowl was placed before her she turned a cheek, pushed away from the table, and rose up all in one awkwardly quick motion as her hands covered her face, her eyes tightly shut, trembling began to take her body. _Shichimi Togarashi_, smell was the strongest sense linked to memory and that just triggered so much to pour out at once.

_Knife slitting her arm, first lightly, then slightly more, and then deeper until she was certain he was about to get to bone. Then a tongue licking her dirty cheek clean of streams of salty tears that trickled away..._

More would have flown in if not for a hand that was set upon his shoulder, snapping her free of thought. When she found the strength to open her eye she saw Sesshomaru towering over her.

"I did not do anything, mi'lord, she started to—"

"Be silent, Jaken," ordered Sesshomaru.

"Yes, mi'lord," he muttered before turning around to start off to finish his chores.

Her hands covered her face as much as possible then, trying her utmost to regain her even breath. He allowed her some time before he took his hand away, suddenly she wished he hadn't.

"I killed a man in front of you," he stated to instantly win her curious gaze. "You passed out due to your injuries, not the sight."

It was strange… how he stated that as a _fact_ rather than a question, but it was true. It wasn't the sight of him stabbing the man; it was clean, efficient, and merciful even. It was the blood loss and pain that ate away at her that caused her to collapse.

"Jaken serves you ramen and you begin to tremble," he shook his head ever so slightly.

He wouldn't understand… couldn't, he was a man, there was no possible way he could grasp what it felt like to be so vulnerable to have something that was so precious taken away over and over again, to feel things _inside_ of her that did not belong.

"I've been checking missing person reports for the past week and not once has a report appeared matching your description. I presume that no one is looking for you."

She nodded in agreement to that, why should she be surprised? Her mother didn't notice her while she was being tormented for a week so why would she care that she was missing another seven days? Then slowly he took one of her hands and pushed back her sleeve to show the bandages around her wounds, the ones that told the story of how she was tied up.

"No one asks for this, particularly a thirteen year old," he stated as his remarkably golden glaze moved up from the wraps around her ligature marks to her eyes. She felt a flicker of annoyance seep over her, she was always told she looked younger than her actual age, but _thirteen_? That was a whole two years wrong, more like three. She'd be sixteen in only a few months… if she made it to that.

"You are aware you may leave whenever you'd like, aren't you?" he questioned with a slightly perked brow. "Write down your address and I will send you there at any time you wish."

Part of her wanted to ask why he even let her stay, why he even brought her to his large, surely expensive, home that had apparently been in his family for generations—at least, that's what Jaken said. But… she didn't have the strength to ask. It was as if there was a weight upon her chest that kept her from doing anything more than breathe. Speaking… it was just an unneeded annoyance.

Besides, she got the overwhelming feeling that he couldn't have cared less. He was, after all, a murderer which should have bothered her more than it did. Then he walked away without another word. Though, she felt a smidge pleased that he spared so much time on her. It was a first since her arrival.

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**oooOoOooo**

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**Outside was beautiful, beyond that, it reminded her in an odd way that was still something wondrous left in the world. Nature, though, was something that humans played no hand in. Anything they touched was acidic… terrible, even. It took a few days before Jaken told her where they were, Kurama. It was a small village that lied at the foot of Mount Kurama, isolated in its valley, the town was a tranquil and quiet place. She only knew of it because of a Buddhist temple, Kurama-dera, that was founded in the eighth century and a famous onsen.

The hot springs were what attractive her the most, it was north of Kyoto, less than an hour from city center. Sometimes her friends' parents would bring her along on their trips to them. There was one right behind Sesshomaru's estate, which was keenly hidden behind the trees and away from the other villagers.

She had yet to go in it but she decided… finally she would. It took some nodding and pointing towards it to get Jaken to realize that was what she wanted; he just threw some towels at her and said sure. Cautiously she tripped and slipped down into the warm water. For a while, it was nice, peaceful even, but she was certain that wouldn't last—her thoughts would surely eventually go to _that_ place. She'd never escape it… them, the five that had ruined her life.

At the time escaping seemed like such a grand idea, run away and back to the mother that was supposed to be worried sick about her, only to see she didn't care whatsoever. Living seemed to be so important, to return to her friends, her life, but really… they could never understand, she could _never_ go back to the way things were.

Forever her life would be stuck on what had happened, defined by it, so why continue? She took in a breath before dipping down until she was completely covered by the steaming water. Her long raven black hair floated around her; it wouldn't be hard, just grab one of the heavy rocks and sink down. Don't come back up for air, would that be hard? She heard after the initial burning she would just slip into something similar to sleep and all would be over…

It took her lungs burning so much to _beg_ her to rise up until she finally obeyed, taking in a lump sum of air to appease them. No, she didn't want to die like that.

Did she really want to…? To die?

She shut her eyes and leaned backwards. A strange idea panged in her mind as she got out, wrapping the towel around herself before heading back into her room—at least, the one she rested in—of the house. Once she finished drying off and changing back into her yukata she cautiously searched the home, glancing in at the extensive library, living room, kitchen, some empty bedrooms, and then finally she ran into the man she sought in the hallway. He was walking out of the large, barren, area that she had yet to check, she had glanced in on some occasions to see that he practiced his swordsmanship skills in there.

He glistened lightly of sweat, it was nice to see that even someone so perfect had to do something so humane every once and a while. He seemed to realize her presence right away, ceasing midway in the hallway, quite a distance from her.

"I…" she started meekly, it barley even came out, her voice seemed so foreign even to her own ears but it instantly caught his attention—his brow perked. "My name… it's Rin."

All he did was nod at that.

So, she moved to the pressing question, "why did you kill that man?"

That was what he had been waiting for all along, her to finally _ask_, or at least mention the murder he had committed. But before he could answer, she asked another, one that caught even someone who was always so prepared such as himself off guard.

"Why didn't you kill me?"

It wasn't as if she seemed to fear the prospect… instead, it sounded as if she was disappointed he _didn't_. Curiously, he glanced over her before replying, "would you have rather I did?"

All she gave him was a one shoulder shrug as her browns fell to the floor.

"I do not harm children," he stated sternly. "That man you saw… let's just say that's what I do."

"Can you teach me?" she whispered, it was so meek that if not for his superior hearing he would not have heard it.

"Teach you?" he questioned.

"How to," she paused before pressing her lips together and looking back up at him, "kill someone."

There was a silence so deep between the two that she held her breath, fear festering within her, perhaps she shouldn't have asked? Shouldn't have infringed on his thing?

He countered, "Tell me who did what to you and I'll take it into consider."

Instead she just shook her head fervently and turned around, quickly disappearing behind the next corner. She couldn't tell him… she couldn't tell anyone.

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**

"Mi'lord said you spoke to him," Jaken began at dinner, delicately setting the fish in front of her, obviously fearful of her reaction. When there was none he let out a breath, walked around, and set down. "So you do have the _ability_ to speak. What's your name? So I can at least cease to call you girl."

"Rin," she murmured while she picked up her chopsticks.

"What happened to you? Why isn't anyone looking for you?"

"I'm fifteen," she declared stiffly, "not thirteen."

"Mi'lord checks, no preteen your age is missing from Kyoto—are you from there? Or somewhere else?"

She shook her head lightly, "Kyoto was my home."

"Then why is no one looking for you?" he questioned again.

She puffed out a heated breath to blow her bangs out of her face before looking up at the toad like creature, her instincts told her to cease speaking but… he had been tending to her, making sure she recovered, since her arrival even if it wasn't something he truly wanted to do. It was the least she could do, so she took another breath in and confessed, "my mother is an alcoholic. She'll go into one of her stupors, a binge, and by the time she comes out days would have disappeared, sometimes a whole week. Maybe when she sobers up she'll realize… I'm not there."

Not there to do her bidding, to cook for her, to make sure she ate properly, to clean up, to do the dishes, to do _everything_ for her. Honestly, she had no idea how her mom would last without her. She barely understood how she survived _with_ her.

"Oh," was all Jaken had to say to that.

So, she cautiously changed the subject, "Sesshomaru-sama… why did he bring me here?"

"You saw him," he murmured, "do his job. He can't very well let you go tell someone, why he saved you instead of allowing you to die I do not know. The latter would have been the best, now you could very well go blabbing."

"I won't," she assured softly as she began to pick apart the fish. "Sesshomaru-sama saved me… I won't tell anyone what he did."

It was, after all, not the worst thing she had ever seen happen.

"Mi'lord is not going to be able to tend to you forever; he is not one for children."

That wasn't exactly a surprise to her, it was awfully apparent that Sesshomaru was a solitude type of person, having Jaken seemed barely tolerable for him so being stuck with her…? No, he wouldn't like that and she felt oddly obligated to appease him. It wasn't that he saved her, even though he _was _responsible for keeping her alive—she wasn't sure she even wanted to stay alive—but he did take her in when he didn't need to.

"Really, in all the years I have known mi'lord, I cannot understand why he did this. Granted he would not harm someone so young but… bringing you here? When you were in such poor condition you could have easily perished on your own. No foul done there. Having someone tend to you, making sure you were decent, allowing you to stay here, all of that is very out of character for my lord. He doesn't take care of people he…"

"Kills them," she whispered. Soon she would be out of his hair… she'd make sure of that.

* * *

**oooOoOooo  


* * *

**

Once night cascaded across the sky she gathered her things, which really was only the other yukata that was given to her, so she could leave. Where would she go…? Nowhere, not for long at least, she was determined to find the courage to end her suffering. It might just take a little longer… but she wouldn't do that while under the roof of Lord Sesshomaru. He had done enough for her, preparing a burial wasn't needed.

What caused her to jump equally shocked her, four simple, stoic, words, "where are you going?"

For some reason, she held her breath as she turned to see the tall man standing before her. The moon was full, it made his silver locks glisten like the first night she saw him, his golden gaze surpassed even the stars intensity, and his rather pale, yet perfect, skin glowed in the basking night light. Yes… the darkness was where he thrived, what made him look like a god instead of a mere mortal.

"Where are you going?" he repeated, this time a bit more forcefully, with wide gaps in between each word to allow them to sink into her.

Does it truly matter if she left? She supposed she owed him and Jaken a goodbye but… instead; all she did was shrug while her eyes fell to the floor. She hadn't the faintest idea where she was going… she knew where she eventually wanted to end up but she had no way of telling him that.

"Must I repeat myself?" he questioned rather coldly.

"I…" she slowly murmured, "don't know. I don't want to be… a burden on you and Jaken-sama anymore."

"You needn't call him that," Sesshomaru assured. That was really what he wanted to focus on out of that statement?

What was she to say to that? So she just nodded and said, "thank you for everything."

"My offer still stands," he stated to earn her attention. "Tell me what occurred to you and I will… aid you."

She shook her head again, "you wouldn't… understand."

"Someone hurt you," he guessed, the small flinch confirmed his suspicious.

"Multiple someones," she muttered.

There was a long pause before he asked, "how many?"

"Five," she swallowed, "men… Five men."

He nodded, it wasn't hard to grasp what that meant, at least to guess at what were all the possibilities that had occurred to her. "When you asked me to instruct you on killing someone, did you have them in mind?"

"I guess," she whispered.

"They took something from you," he assumed, "a part of you. Killing them will not fix you, you may think that it will make you feel better and perhaps it will but… there is a chance it won't."

"I don't… it won't," she mumbled before pausing in order to think properly how to say what she felt. "It can't… make me feel better. It's just… they don't deserve to live without…"

"Punishment," he finished what she apparently couldn't. "I'll teach you, then. You are too young, I won't," he paused for a while before finding the proper word, "corrupt a youth. Jaken says you are fifteen?"

She nodded; a bit annoyed that he had thought she was so much younger.

"Then wait, at least until you are seventeen. Preferably eighteen."

"I don't want to wait that long," she countered quickly. She'd be sixteen in only a couple of months but that was still forever away...

"Then tell me who did what to you and I will find them and punish them for you," he offered. It was odd, how touching that notion was to her… he was offering to _kill_ five men, it should have sent shivers down her spine instead of warming her heart briefly.

But she couldn't… she didn't want to think about the gruesome details let alone _speak_ about them. Particularly to someone that she didn't want to disappoint, she couldn't take his look of disgust. He seemed too noble to show pity, the thought probably wouldn't cross his mind. He was _strong;_ he would wonder why she wasn't able to defend herself, to be _stronger_.

"Then wait until you are older," he requested.

"What do I do while I am waiting…?" she asked.

"Go to school, do things fifteen year olds do," he supposed with a small shrug before turning around to hold the door open. Cautiously, she walked back in. With this… she would have a reason to move forward. To not let go of life.

* * *

**oooOoOooo**

**

* * *

_A/N_**_: Thank you for all the reviews. I know the rape scenes aren't pleasant but keep in mind that's a warning of this story. I hope you enjoy the story regardless and continue to review._


	3. Darkness Constructed

**Chapter Warning: Brief flashback to one assault**

* * *

**.|.****R**_evenge's_ **R**_eaper_**.|.  
**•.**C**_hapter_** T**_hree:_** D**_arkness _**C**_onstructed_.•  
**oooOoOooo**

* * *

Time trickled away from them, rather, her. Nightmares still arose in the midst of darkness, whilst she tried her hardest to sleep, but she found comfort that forced them away. Lord Sesshomaru was there, living in the same house as her, and he would not allow harm to come to her. He was her protection.

Normality was something she was forced to aim for in Kuruma. It was a requirement if she truly wanted to learn his trade and stay with him. If she couldn't fake that she was a normal teen then she'd have to go elsewhere - though, there was nowhere else for her to go. Her drunk of a mother never filed a missing person's report… she probably didn't care.

Or merely drank herself into oblivion finally.

Young Rin was essentially alone in the world, living off the kindness of a stranger who killed for a living. How strange was that?

It wasn't possible for him to suddenly have a child, especially one her age. Kuruma was a small town and everyone knew everything about everyone else - at least, that's what they thought. As far as they were aware Takamoru Sesshomaru was a businessman that often traveled around doing sales and mostly lived off his family fortune. He was single with no interest in anyone in town ever and not very sociable. No one really knew of Jaken's existence, it wouldn't sit well with folks if a green toad creature began to walk around town after all.

As far as the townspeople were aware, Rin was Sesshomaru's niece who he had taken in after his brother was in an accident. There really wasn't any family resemblance between the two but no one cared to question it either, what reason would he have to lie? What purpose would he have for a fifteen year old other than that? Once the school year started she enrolled, Sesshomaru had her school transcripts transferred from her former place in Kyoto.

No one questioned it, no one cared that her last name wasn't the same as him. After all, his brother had only been his _half_ brother so as far as people knew they were merely related through their mother. As required of her, she acted as if she were any other giggly, glowing, bubbly teen. If she showed the way she felt on the inside she'd be forced into therapy and certainly out of Lord Sesshomaru's home.

What they did required privacy and no suspicious people wandering around his estate. After each school day she would attend at least one club, since that was _normal_, then return home. It was always that which she looked forward to each day. It wasn't until she turned sixteen that he finally began to train her. Not necessarily how to kill, he still didn't want to "corrupt" a youth in that regards.

To her, that was silly, she was corrupted beyond repair already. Corrupted by five disgusting men that stole her childhood and youthful glow from her. Couldn't he see that…?

But he taught her Kenjutsu with his own twists and tweaks to the style of swordsmanship. Never, though, did he let her use a real blade. The only thing she ever touched was the bamboo practice blades. For two to three hours every day he would train her, or rather show her something for about a half hour then leave her to practice it on her own. He'd return at the end, see how she was doing, critic her, and tell her to perfect it tomorrow. She had homework to do, after all. It was a very strange lifestyle, all built upon a lie that they were family, but it was one she enjoyed.

It was better than the only one she had ever known - tending to her alcoholic mother - and better than any other one she could hope for. It amazed her that Lord Sesshomaru took her in, that he saw fit to tend to her, to teach her his ways… she was just damaged goods. Nothing special. Why he did it was always beyond her and something she never dared to ask.

He just did, if she questioned it maybe he'd realize his mistake and just kick her out. It wasn't as if he had any obligation to her. There really was no way for her to know why he did it.

* * *

**oooOoOooo**

* * *

There was one thing that Rin didn't like about Sesshomaru's home, it wasn't modernized in the least bit. If she wanted to watch TV she'd have to go to one of her school friend's home, if she wanted to go on the internet then she had to go to the only internet café in Kuruma - which she did often. It was the only way she knew how to look for the five men that had ruined her existence… at seventeen years of age, it had become an obsession.

There were a string of disappearances after hers, all girls between the age of thirteen and fifteen years old in Kyoto and all from dysfunctional families. Most of the time the police just though they were runaways, apparently some had that inclination - to try to go to Tokyo and become a star. For the most part no one seemed to care… but she did. She had a feeling that those poor girl's who weren't being looked for suffered through the same misfortune as her.

The only problem was that they weren't as lucky as her, they didn't get away. Maybe she was the first, maybe they learned their lesson from her escape, maybe they even lived in fear of what would happen if she came back and told the police what they did? Kami, she hoped they did. She wanted them to suffer, even if it were a little bit. If it was the last thing she did in her life, she'd make them pay for what they had done.

And for some reason, discovering that she wasn't the only one, that they deserved punishment even more, made it easier to think about killing them. That it wouldn't just be for her anymore, it'd be for all the other girls that they surely harmed.

"Rin!" Caught her off guard so much that she jumped when she heard her name being called out. Quickly her dusty coffee colored eyes skimmed up from the computer to one of her classmates, a boy a grade above her who was in most of the same clubs. She supposed she'd consider him a friend… if she had to have those.

"Hi," she greeted with a forced smile before letting her attention return to the computer, hoping that was all he wanted. Instead he ordered a tea and took a seat next to her while she looked around at articles from Kyoto's newspaper online.

"What'cha up to?" he inquired as he looked at the screen, "catching up on the news?"

"Yep," she chimed, there wasn't anything strange about that in the least so she had nothing to worry about. Never draw suspicion to oneself, that was the number one rule that Sesshomaru screwed into her head.

"This weekend a couple of us are thinking about going for a hike up the mountain and maybe even do some camping, would you like to come?"

Her gaze shifted to him. No, she didn't in the least, but she couldn't say that. A normal girl would want to so she smiled some more, "I don't know if I can. I'll ask my uncle, who all is going?"

"Tsuki, Mio, Minoru, Seiji, and me. I'd like it a lot if you could come," he insisted as he scooted closer to her and moved his hand across the counter towards hers. She just turned her stare back to the screen instead. She'd pretend to ask Sesshomaru if she could go then tell Keiji later that she couldn't. Everyone thought she had the strictest guardian but that was alright. It fit with his personality perfectly, no one questioned it.

Certainly he was merely worried about losing another family member, people could sympathize with his plight.

One article caught her attention above the rest CONSTRUCTION MANGER INVESTIGATED FOR FRAUD! For some reason she felt the need to click on it. The man that was photographed, the apparent construction worker that was taking bribes of some sort, looked oddly familiar… no. He didn't look familiar. She didn't know what it was about him but there was something - something that screamed she knew him.

But how?

"Rin?" Keiji begged for her attention back so she gave it, "do you want to go get something to eat together maybe? Tonight?"

"Oh, I'd love that," she said faultlessly even though it was a lie. She even added a smile. "But I am making dinner for my uncle tonight. Maybe some other time?"

"Some other time for sure," he nodded.

"I have to go, see you later Keiji," she stated quickly as she grabbed her bag and logged off the computer before rushing out. Why…? Why? What was it about that man?

_What _was it?

Then it hit her, just like that as she was walking home. She knew.

_Dirty hand, there was always something on them while they touched ever single bit of her body. Grim so deep under his unkempt finger nails that it made her ill, almost as much as his touch. Or the way his breath - smelly and stale - beat against her neck as he pumped in and out of her from behind leaving trails of dirt behind wherever he touched. _

_Something that she couldn't wash away…_

_Each time one of them assaulted her she felt the need to cry, tears always trickled down her faces to soak into the blind fold that kept her from seeing their faces. Some of them hated that, some would slap her and tell her to stop, while the others would get off at her misery._

_Dirty fingers hated it, he always wanted her to be quiet._

_"Shut the fuck up already," he ordered before smacking her across the face with enough force that she fell completely to the ground. She whimpered but withheld the noise as much as she could as she squirmed about to try and get off the cold concrete floor but with chained hands and ankles it was difficult._

_Through her movement her blind fold slipped just enough that she could see dirty hand's face as he slipped his clothes back on and open the nasty rotting wooden door to let in the man who always had a whip._

Her breath became unstable at that memory as she picked up her pace to run up the hill and into the Takamoru Manor. It was the only place in the world she was really safe, that much she was certain. For a while she had held back the urge to cry for herself but after that… she found herself in her room bawling her eyes out.

… as quietly as possible, in hopes to not disturb either Jaken or Sesshomaru.

* * *

**oooOoOooo**

* * *

It took some time before she regained herself, until she could compose herself enough to leave her room. The moment she passed Jaken he began to complain how she had not come for her dinner, how he had even cooked for her, and though it was rude she ignored him to go find Lord Sesshomaru instead. It wasn't hard to locate him. He had to be in one of three locations - his study, his practice area, or in the backyard practicing some more.

He was in the second placed she looked, wielding his sword shirtless, gleaming with sweat, as he moved around ever so elegantly. For a moment - a long one at that - she was enchanted, so much so she didn't make her presence known.

Sesshomaru was so strange, so foreign to her. Certainly he was more than mortal, his looks were too perfect, his movements too flawless for him to be something so defective as a human. If anyone else claimed to be a youaki, she wouldn't believe them, but when he said it how could she argue?

Finally his concentration seemed to be broken, enough so that he turned to see her standing there. One thing she learned quickly about him was that he cherished her privacy and hated to be interrupted, particularly unannounced. He'd punt Jaken sometimes for such an offense, but merely give her a cold stare sometimes.

Before he could do that, she stated, "I found one."

"Elaborate," he requested while he sheathed his sword.

"I found one of the men that…" she had never said it, never told him that she was raped, but she gathered he knew that without her verbalizing it. Instead she always said, "hurt me. I know his name and where he works."

"How did you discover this?"

"The internet," she explained sheepishly, "I keep up to date with Kyoto news and I saw his… his picture… and I know."

"Are you certain?"

"I've never been more of anything in my life," at least, that's how she felt in that moment. She remembered his face. Remembered what he had done… how he had felt, his stench, his dirty, grubby hands.

"Then this weekend we will return to Kyoto and examine the situation further," he stated with a flick of his wrist, a sign that she could then leave him so he could continue his training. With a nod of her head she did just that.

A strange swirl of feelings in the pit of her stomach, excitement, fear, and anticipation. So many things usually void in the girl filled with hallowed darkness.

* * *

**oooOoOooo**

* * *

It had been nearly two years since she had been in Kyoto, really, anywhere outside of Kuruma. Her stomach was unsettled while she walked align side her mentor through the busy streets. Being there… it made her ill. It was a place filled with so many memories for her - some good, some bad, very, very bad. A part of her worried what if some of her friends saw her? What if she ran into someone she knew?

All her friends thought she had gone off to Hokkaido to live with her grandma, that she simply couldn't take living with her mother anymore, and most were happy that she had done that. They thought she'd have a better life. That she deserved that… which she probably did, she simply could never have something like that ever again. Her innocence was gone, filled with a darkness that threatened to tear her apart if she didn't let it out.

But how could any of them understand that?

It took them no time to find the construction site that Kobayashi Ichigo worked at - the man from the article. He was large from both an over indulgence in food and muscles, barking orders left and right to those that worked under her, a scowl always on his face. And even from the distance they stood she could tell he had the dirtiest of hands… it was him.

Probably…

The certainty she had before had vacated, leaving her with a tinge of doubt. What if she was wrong? What if they were about to harm someone completely innocent? Well, from the article he seemed far from _innocent_ but being greedy didn't mean he deserved to die.

"I… I don't know," Rin murmured while her gaze shifted up to Sesshomaru, "if… if it's him."

For a long while, he remained mute, until his golden gaze shifted down to her, "then we will have to see how he reacts to your presence. Do you think you could go up to him?"

"I…" she hesitated while her dusty coffee eyes shifted back across the street. "I... think I can. What should I do?"

"Run into him, apologize, walk away, don't make a scene, don't do anything else. His reaction to seeing you will be enough to verify whether he was one of the men or not."

"Why are you doing this?" Rin yearned to ask him, burned with desire to know _why_ he was helping her. From what Jaken had told her it went against her personality to take her in, to tend to her, to help her as he was but he was doing it… why? But she hadn't the courage to ask. Instead she merely nodded and made her way across the street.

Her heart pounded so loud that she could hear it throb in her head, she felt that the bagging would beat her brain to a pulp, but she kept moving forward, kept walking towards the work site trying to figure out the best way to run into him. When she was barely a few steps away from the construction work she stopped. Her body begged her not to do it, to turn away, to run, to pretend as if nothing had ever happened - to pretend she was normal.

For nearly two years she had been doing it… and apparently playing the part well, so why chance ruining everything now? Why face those men again? She wasn't strong enough.

She couldn't.

Her stare shifted from Kobayashi Ichigo then to her silver haired savior who still lingered across the street. It was only between cars that she could see him standing there but… it was enough. She could do it. She had to, she couldn't have brought Sesshomaru all this way just to let him down, so she took a deep breath in and walked forward quickly - bumping into Ichigo as if by mistake.

"Hey! Watch what -" But his voice left him when he saw her curious brown eyes staring up at him. His own grew wide while his lips were left agape.

"Sorry," she whispered while she turned on her heels to walk down to the next crosswalk and return to Sesshomaru. She had to act as if it were nothing, pretend as if it was horrific to be in his presence, to _smell_ him again. But it was… it really, _really_ was.

She wasn't watching him any further, she couldn't look back, that was what Sesshomaru had said. He was situated perfectly across the street to watch the man's reaction, his tan skin fading to white at the sight of Rin, his inability to speak, his stunned which was all quickly followed by him grabbing his things and rushing away seemed to verify her hypothesis.

The man knew her, and from his reaction it wasn't in a good way.

"You did well," Sesshomaru felt the need to say once she returned to him, she too seemed paler than before. She was but a child, he had to remind himself of that. "Return to the hotel. I will come for you later tonight."

Though a part of her wanted to know what he had planned to do… the rest of her didn't. Besides, she knew he well enough not to ask, instead she merely nodded before they drifted apart from one another in the crowd. From merely bumping her arm against his she felt the deep need to take a steamy shower - to wash away his stench and dirt from her.

* * *

**oooOoOooo**

* * *

Stealthy and silent Sesshomaru had followed his prey home to watch as he packed his things in a frantic hurry, yelled at his wife when she questioned what he was up to, and even went as far as smacking her when she tried to stop him at the door. Yes. That man was bad and it _disgusted_ the youkai in a whole new way.

He killed people, he had blood on his hands, but he would never harm a child. That was low, there was never a point in it, yet this man - this disgusting creature - had done unspeakable horrors to someone as innocent and sweet looking as Rin? How someone could do that was beyond him.

It sparked a rage within him that he hadn't known could exist.

The girl was utterly broken when he found her, in a way he had never witnessed firsthand before, but he recognized it. She knew the true horrors of the world… he wasn't sure what possessed him to see to it that she lived after the night she had witnessed him murder. It would have been smarter to merely let her die, it wasn't as if he had caused those injuries, so he wouldn't be breaking his rule or harming a child but… but he couldn't.

He took her home instead.

It wasn't until she asked him to teach her to kill that he realized she had a darkness festering within her, one that was similar to that which thrived instead of him. Through that kinship he allowed he to stay and slowly pass his trait down to her. She wasn't ready for her first kill, she wasn't ready to be left alone in the world yet either, and he couldn't bring himself to allow either of those things to happen to her.

He couldn't help it, though he fought it fervently, there was just something about the broken girl that called out to him. That forced him to hold something akin to affection for her. He had it planned out, he waited for the perfect opportunity to snatch the man, and he already had a place picked out to take him. A construction site that had gone under because of lack of finances, a place far from any witnesses.

It took one call to get Rin to come there, and while she made her journey he prepared his playground. Black trash bags were torn and laid around the scene and upon the table that he tied the man to with duck tape. That way it'd be easier to clean up after themselves. He felt the area was particularly fitting for a corrupt construction worker, too.

He deserved to die in such a filthy place.

"Sesshomaru-sama?" he heard Rin whisper not too far from the door, he could hear her feet against the ground as she wandered around in search of him, and the way her heart pound from fear.

"Rin," he called out, allowing his voice to lead her to the right place. At first her eyes widened at the sight before her but that didn't stop her from walking all the way up to his side and looking over the man in front of her.

The man finally awoke then, his eyes groggily forced open, it took a while for his mind to process what was going on - what was around him. When they landed on his two captures they only went wide again as he began to scream and fuss about, but there was a construction glove in his mouth to keep his voice muffled and the tape to keep him from moving.

"What… are we going to do with him?" Rin whispered, though she already knew the answer.

The darkness within her that had been built up over the years, that had only been created with the help of the man in front of her, was thrilled. It begged for _this_ to happen. To end him. To _punish_ him.

He said exactly what she thought, "kill him."

Her eyes shifted back to him as he handed held out a knife for her to take. Part of her training would be to learn the best places to stab someone to end their life, to quickest, the easiest, the worst. He simply hadn't gotten there with her yet, she was too young, he didn't feel right about explaining all that to her yet. But he'd let her kill this man if that was what she desired.

If her darkness was great enough.

She swallowed as she looked from the well kept blade then back to the man on the table, "I know it was him but…"

Sesshomaru merely nodded at that as he reached out to remove the dirty glove from the capture's mouth. "Do you have any last words?"

"Don't do this, don't do this!" he begged, his eyes wide and fixated purely on the knife, "I'm sorry! So sorry! Just don't do this!"

"You aren't truly sorry," Sesshomaru stated, no one ever was when they were placed in such a position. It was merely human nature to say whatever they thought necessary to stay alive.

"You're supposed to be dead!" he hissed towards Rin, but those were his last words before a knife was thrust into the center of his chest.

Again… she witnessed him kill someone but until last time it was for _her_. He had ended the monster's life for _her._ And it was strange… and probably a little wrong, but she loved him for it.

* * *

**A/N: **_It's been a long time since I've updated this story. Sorry. But here's an update. I'm not sure when the next one will come. I hope you are enjoying the story (if enjoying is really the right term for this). Please continue to review._


	4. Darkness Witnessed

**Chapter Warning: Violence**

* * *

**.|.****R**_evenge's_ **R**_eaper_**.|.  
**•.**C**_hapter_** F**_our:_** D**_arkness _**W**_itnessed_.•  
**oooOoOooo**

* * *

It had been five months, three weeks, six days, and fifteen hours since Sesshomaru killed the man with the whip, the one that had left scars all up her back from the time he hurt her… before he raped her. Or after, it depended on what he felt like doing. During that time in between, she felt nothing but growing admiration for the silver haired man. He was… something otherworldly.

Most would be disgusted with what he did, that he killed a man right in front of her, but not her. She was enchanted with the fact that he would do that for her. That he would take a life for her.

Yet, that was all beside the point, for all that time she couldn't find another one of the men. There were still four left. The one with the burning blades, who smelled of Shichimi Togarashi, the one with the accent from osaka, the guy with the gruff and grotesque voice that always told her she'd be dead soon, then the voyeur who never touched her.

They were all still out there and as long as that was true then there would be a void in her, sucking away at all the good, leaving an edgy, annoyed, hurt mess behind. She _needed_ them to be gone, to be out of the world, so that she could live. As long as they were out there, lurking around somewhere, she could never have a life. She could barely even sleep at night.

Time and time again she'd spent hours in the internet café looking up any sort of information to try and find another face. To try and find another one of predicators. But for almost six months she found nothing, no trace… perhaps finding the construction worker was just pure luck. Maybe it wouldn't happen again.

That meant… she'd have to figure out how to live with the void? The darkness that ate away at the good? She didn't know how to do that. She didn't _want _to do that.

Her life… it wasn't much of a life. It was more of a lie. She pretended to be a normal, healthy, teenager when she wasn't. Everyone thought she was Sesshomaru's niece when she _wasn't_. She found a way to laugh when her so-called friends did but there was never any real joy, never a reason to do so.

It was sad, maybe even pathetic, but finding those men that destroyed her life was all the real life she had left. The only thing that mattered. Her obsession.

Sometimes, regardless of how she tried, she found herself up at night with tears trickling down her face, sobs escaping her over all that had happened. Not just the grotesque things that they did to her but also the way they stole her life. Before her mother was a drunk that never paid attention to her, but she was still happy. She had a set of friends that were like family… she would have made it through life alright.

Now… what hope did she have of ever feeling normal again? Pure? Taint free?

All she ever wanted was a normal life, and now Rin couldn't even have that. She could never have peace of mind. Her body had been invaded without permission. Her life had been ruined…

The creek of the wooden floor caught her vague attention enough that she sniffled back the sobs and glanced over her shoulder to see who it was. If she was going to break down and cry then she should have done it in her room not on the porch outside but she wanted the fresh air. When she finally blinked away enough tears to see straight she saw the lean, silver haired, Sesshomaru.

"What's wrong, Rin?"

Ever since that incident, ever since he had killed for her, he had spoken more and more to her. Taken a larger interest in her, so to say. She had heard him say her name many times since then but each time she heard it, it made her feel slightly better. That time was no exception.

"Nothing," she lied as she whipped the tears away.

"I see," he replied, quietly, as he walked over to sit down near her, not right next to her but close. For a long while, he just sat there with her in the stoic silence that he did best. Somehow that made everything easier to bare. Somehow that made her dark thoughts dissipate. Somehow… she felt slightly normal again.

Through the utter hell she experienced, she did find one light. One solace in her darkness. Sesshomaru, the man that-against all odds-seemed to care enough to help her. For that, she'd be eternally grateful to him. For doing what he did, what he would continue to do, she would always be in his debt.

For him, she'd do anything to return the favor but she had no idea what she could ever do for him. He seemed to have everything he needed or wanted. He had a job that he enjoyed, albeit a strange one. He had a servant, Jaken, already. So what could she possibly ever give him?

"Sesshomaru-sama," Rin softly began as she looked up from the beautiful backyard he had to him. It took a while but he pried his golden gaze away from the scene in front of him so that he could meet her chocolate orbs. "Thank you… for everything. I can't tell you how much I appreciate it."

"It is nothing," he assured her before he turned his gaze forward again.

"But it's not nothing," she argued, without even a dash of hostility in her voice. "It means everything to me… if not for you, I wouldn't be alive. If not for you… I wouldn't know how to survive."

She didn't expect him to say anything in return. He had never been a man of many words, she just wanted to say it. But… he did turn to look at her once more.

And he did reply, "you are stronger than you think, Rin."

* * *

**oooOoOooo**

* * *

Strong really wasn't a word she'd associate herself with but if that was what Sesshomaru wanted to say to try to make her feel better than she would accept that. She was even grateful to him for that attempted. It meant he cared. Even if it was just a tinge, at least he cared.

"Rin," startled her into looking away from the computer at the internet café to Keiji, the boy from her class that was ever so kind to her. If she was a normal girl like all the friends she had then she would appreciate his attention but she wasn't. She had bigger things to worry about.

"Hello, Keiji," Rin replied with a forced smile as her attention returned to the screen in front of her that held a couple articles over the things that were happening in Kyoto. "How are things going?"

"Pretty good," he replied as he pulled the seat out next to her to sit down. "So, school will be done with for the year soon… so what are you going to do this summer?"

"I don't know," she answered, honestly, since she didn't know in the least bit what she would be up to that summer. "What are you going to do?"

"In a couple of days I'll be visiting family in Kyoto then Tokyo then Osaka, so I'll be away from like two months."

"That sounds fun," she commented until, _finally_, one article gave her pause.

His face… the chubby, ugly thing that it was, with a pig nose, she knew that face. It was the only one she saw ever actually saw the face of and there he was… in the article standing with another group of men. She felt herself freeze at the sight, her body tense up, her throat clench shut to stop her breath.

"Rin? Are you alright?"

"Y-yeah," she whispered as she clicked to enlarge the article.

TAISHO INC., BREAKTHROUGH IN COMPUTER SCIENCE the article title. Apparently, the group in the photo were Taisho's leading computer science geeks, there was a five of them but the one to the farthest left, the one that looked awkward and uncomfortable in the phone… that fat, gross, guy was the one that took her. The one that got out in front of her and pushed her into the van.

The voyeur, the one that never touched her. She was so excited by the idea that she finally had another name. Another predicator to tell Sesshomaru about. That got her to get up quickly and grab her bag.

"Sorry, Keiji, I have to go," she declared before she ran off and up the hillside to the old, large, house of Sesshomaru's. Once she got in she couldn't contain herself, she dropped her bag and began to call out for him, "Sesshomaru-sama! Sesshomaru-sama!"

"Rin?" Jaken inquired with a raised brow, "what are you shouting about, Sesshomaru-sama is practicing his swordsmen skills. Be quiet!"

"It's important, though, Jaken-sama," she countered as she rounded a corner to try and find Sesshomaru which wasn't hard, since she ran straight into him and his bare chest. Instantly she felt red run to her cheeks as she backed up. "Sorry, Sesshomaru-sama."

"It's fine," he assured her.

"Sesshomaru-sama, I tried to tell her to settle down," Jaken began but could not finish before he was interrupted by his lord.

"Silence, Jaken, go away," he ordered with a wave of his hand. Reluctantly, he did just that with a pair of narrowed eyes on Rin.

"Rin, what is it?" Sesshomaru asked as he glanced over her face. In the short time that she had been with him she had grown, not only taller but also matured. She was still a child, as far as he was concerned. Lately she had been depressed, regardless of how hard she might try to pretend otherwise. He was paying more attention than others might think. But now she looked excited.

"I… I found another one of them," she started, "the one that kidnapped me. I remember his face and I saw it in the paper. He works for Taisho, Inc., in Kyoto. His name is Yokomito Eita. What do we do?"

"I'll look into it," he responded with a nod of his head.

"What do you mean look into it? I know this time, it's not like before! I know it's him!" she countered quickly, "I know, so let's go!"

"Rin," Sesshomaru snapped to force her to jump some and shut up even. "We need a plan. You are too emotionally involved in this-"

"Maybe you are just too detached from emotions," Rin argued while she turned on her heels and stomped off. In hindsight she'd regret saying that, but she was just so… mad, so eager to find another to _try_ to feel better that being told to slow down bothered her. With a humph she went into her room to shut the door and start to gather some of her things. If Sesshomaru wasn't going to help her she'd just go find Yokomito Eita herself. She knew where he worked, she knew what he looked like, she knew what to do…

She'd just find him and stab him. Inflect a _fragment_ of the pain that he had made her suffer through. There was no way he could endure as much as she did, but she hoped when he died he went somewhere horrible. Maybe she could find a way to get him to tell her who else was involved so she wouldn't have to wait around and hope to find a piece of evidence to lead her to another.

She didn't want to wait another six months to find someone else. If she went by that rate then she wouldn't be finished until she was eighteen or nineteen. She didn't want to wait anymore. She just wanted the void to go away.

The memories, the nightmares, the pain… she needed it to go away.

* * *

**oooOoOooo**

* * *

Taisho Incorporation was one of the biggest companies in Kyoto, it had a building all to itself with its' name written across the top. She knew where it was without looking it up, she passed by it every day on her walk from school. So… she went there right when the bus got her into town.

Across the street she waited, it was a Friday so that meant that work was in session. In just a couple minutes it would be five o'clock which was usually the time people left. She would just wait until she saw him then make her move. With every passing second her foot tapped more and more as her gaze shifted through the cars that rushed by her to see the front door of Taisho.

She only had to wait ten minutes but it felt likes hours before she saw him walk through the doors. Quickly she made her way to the closest crosswalk to rush across the street-starting a symphony of horns from the annoyed drives she dashed in front of. Once she got to the other side she started her way towards him, her eyes locked on him, her hand grasped the knife she was carrying inside her pocket to prepare herself. He was just down the street from her, she could see his pudgy face through the crowd of people.

The knife would go into his gut, that'd be a painful way to die. She was almost there, _almost_ near him, so she started to slowly take out her knife before someone grabbed her wrist and yanked her into an alleyway nearby so Eita could pass by without even noticing them. When the grip loosened she pulled away to see Sesshomaru giving her one hell of a harsh stare.

"What were you thinking, Rin?"

"I was thinking that I don't want to continue to wait for forever!"

"You planned to stab him with this?" he inquired as he snatched the knife from her hand, "in the middle of the sidewalk? Do you _want_ to get caught? Do you _want_ to go to jail, Rin?"

"No," she whispered as her chocolate gaze shifted down to the pavement. "I don't…"

"I know what I am doing, Rin, let me handle this," he ordered as he put the knife into the black duffle bag he was carrying. "You are lucky that I followed you."

"I'm sorry," she whispered.

"Rin…" he mumbled back as he sighed and looked away.

"I'm really sorry, Sesshomaru-sama," she repeated.

"It's fine. I can get him, Rin, you have to allow me to," Sesshomaru ordered, while his gaze met with hers. "You cannot do this on your own. Let me… help you."

"Alright," she replied with a nod, "thank you, Sesshomaru-sama."

"Go to here," he requested as he pulled a piece of paper out of his pocket then handed it to her. She curiously opened it up to see an address written on it. "I will meet you there within the next couple of hours. If we are going to do this, Rin, we need to do it right. Do you understand?"

"I understand," she chimed while she looked from the paper to him, "I will go there and wait… I promise I won't do anything else like that. I learned my lesson."

"I hope so," he muttered to himself before he turned away to start to walk out on the sidewalk again, in the direction Eita had gone. Rin waited a few moments before exiting and heading the other way. She was stupid and sloppy… she was very, very lucky that Sesshomaru was looking for her.

She was very lucky to have him in his life.

* * *

**oooOoOooo**

* * *

The address Sesshomaru gave her led her to a building in the middle of nowhere, a warehouse building that seemed to be abandoned. The room that he indicated her going to was on the second floor, what appeared to be an old office. It was completely covered in plastic wrap, the desk even had restraints attached to it. Sesshomaru must have been there before to prepare the room… the kill room.

It would be easy to clean up after, any evidence would be on the plastic wrap, which they could take down and dispose of somewhere. It was a little strange that that didn't faze her at all. He killed people for a living and she didn't care.

It should bother her, if she was a normal girl it would, but she wasn't. She could never be normal again. Forever, there would be something broken inside her over what those men had done… just like something seemed to be broken inside of Sesshomaru.

Two and a half hours passed by she heard noise in the hallway which she had to investigate to see Sesshomaru lugging the fat Eita up the staircase over to her. She stepped aside so he could bring the unconscious man into the room, place him on the desk, then wrap his hands and legs up in the restraints. He then placed a gag in his mouth.

"What do we do now?" Rin whispered as she looked over Eita then up to Sesshomaru.

"You don't want to wait any longer?" Sesshomaru inquired, "then we will get him to tell us the names of the other men involved."

"How do we get him to do that?"

"How do you think?" he countered before he golden gaze returned to the sleeping man. Rin knew the answer… torture. She watched as Sesshomaru walked over to his black bag then opened it to get out a bottle which he soaked a clothe with then waved it under his nose. It was almost instant the way that woke him up. His eyelids rose up.

At first he looked just tired until his gaze shifted between Sesshomaru and her, once it landed on her it was like he saw a ghost. The color from his already pale and pasty skin drained even more, his eyes widened, his breath quickened. He shook his head.

"That's right, I'm alive," Rin replied, since that was probably what he was so surprised to find out about. She was supposed to be dead, the construction worker had thought she was.

"You're going to tell us the names of the other men involved in the kidnapping ring," Sesshomaru stated as he flipped out the knife that Rin had been carrying earlier to lift it to his ear. "Nod your head if you are willing to give us those names."

Instead, he gave out a muffled scream, one that was contained by the clothe stuck in his mouth. So, to teach him a lesson, Sesshomaru slit off his eat, causing a whole new level of scream.

"You have another ear, ten fingers, ten toes, and many other parts you can live without," Sesshomaru reminded him as he grabbed his chin to make him turn his head to look right into his heated golden gaze. "Now, nod your head if you are willing to give the names or you will lose another ear."

That time, he nodded.

"Be warned, if you scream I will slit your throat," he stated calmly before he removed the gag.

He gasped for air before saying, "I… I… I don't know all the names… I don't. We don't do names…"

"Then you are no use," Sesshomaru asserted while he prepared to slit his throat.

"No! No!" he shouted, "no! I know their first names! Hiro, Shin, and Seiji! One… one I think works with meat, as a butcher!"

"That's all you know?" Sesshomaru questioned.

"Yes, now please let me go," he begged, snot slipped down his nose, tears swelled his eyes. "I-I-I never touched you, tell him I never touched you!"

"He didn't," Rin murmured as her gaze shifted up to Sesshomaru, "he never…" raped her, she didn't have to say it, he must have known that was what she was getting at. Her chocolates moved over to glare at the man, though. "But you are the one who kidnapped me. It's all _your_ fault I had to endure that. It's your fault…"

"Please, please, please no! Someone help!" he began but Sesshomaru quickly just inserted the gag again before he put away her small knife to pick up his larger blade. He lifted it up, preparing to stab in him the heart, but then Rin grabbed his hand.

"Wait," she whispered, which he did as he turned his eyes to her. "Can… can I?"

"Yes, of course," he answered as he lowered the blade to give it to her. Her hand was shaky as she stepped to the side so she could be in front of him. That man ruined her life. He was the one that led to her horrific nightmare… so she lifted the blade up to prepare for the kill, just like Sesshomaru showed her how to do before.

But her hand was too shaky, she couldn't bring it down, not until Sesshomaru stood behind her and wrapped his hand around hers. He helped her bring the blade down in the right location to spark his blood to begin to pool out down his shirt and into the plastic wrap that surrounded him.

Her breath was as shaky as the rest of her body as she stepped away and dropped the blade, her eyes locked on the dying man in front of her. She did that… she killed him.

"Rin?"

"I'm a horrible person now… aren't I? They made me into a horrible person, didn't they?" she stammered.

"Rin," Sesshomaru began as he walked up behind her again to wrap an arm around her to keep her steady then pull her to him. Over and over again he said 'sh' to try and calm her. Slowly, she turned so that she was facing him as she leaned on him. Trying to steady her breath, trying to calm herself.

"You will be fine, Rin," Sesshomaru assured her while he ran his hand down her choppy, long, brown strands, "everything will be fine, I promise. I will make sure of it."

* * *

_**A/N**: Again, I'm terribly sorry it took me so long to update this story! I promise not to let another three months pass by before another update comes out. I swear at most it will be another month (hopefully not even that long). I hope there's still an interest in this story. I will not leave this story incomplete, I swear. _

_Thank you everyone who has reviewed and will continue to review. I appreciate them all, long or short._


	5. Travelling Darkness

**Chapter Warning: Flashback to Assault & Violence**

* * *

**.|.****R**_evenge's_ **R**_eaper_**.|.  
**•.**C**_hapter_** F**_ive: _**T**_raveling _**D**_arkness_.•  
**oooOoOooo**

* * *

Officially, she was seventeen. Being another year older was usually something a teenage girl would celebrate but she didn't really take notice to that factor… it was more the fact that she was seventeen and had been for an entire month and there was still no trace of any of the other men that assaulted her. She didn't want to continue to wait and wait and wait to find one by luck.

More than anything, she wanted it to be over. She wanted to be able to sleep at night knowing that the men that hurt her, that continued to hurt girls after her, were gone. That they could never harm her again, never rape another girl. If that finally happened then maybe she could actually sleep.

Maybe she could have a life again instead of the façade of one that she was forced to live.

There was one plus side to everything, really the only light in the dark mess she was slowly finding her way through. Since they returned from Kyoto after cleaning up the mess from her first kill Sesshomaru had taken more of an interest in her. Apparently he finally deemed her old enough to teach certain things to, like swordsmanship. Every day after school they'd have a session together.

He was a harsh instructor, but she did learn quickly with him. It was the part of her day she looked forward to most. It meant that she got to spend time with him, that he was paying attention to her, that_—_for a short time_—_she was the center _of_ his attention.

At the end of each session she'd be famished and exhausted. Luckily, Jaken always knew to have dinner prepared by then. Afterwards, she was forced to do her homework for an hour or two then she went off to bed. Not that she always got a good night's sleep… not that she ever slept through the night anymore.

Nightmares woke her sometimes, but never over the voyeur or the whip man. She knew they were dead, that she didn't need to worry about them anymore, so maybe that was why her mind let it go. Why it didn't torture her at night with remembering what they did…

_A blindfold was wrapped around her eyes, ever since she was shoved into the van by the pudgy, greasy, kidnapper. And though she struggled with all her might she wasn't able to break free, but it did annoy him enough that he smacked her on her head. So hard she passed out._

_When she awoke the blindfold was still there, but she wasn't in a van. She could feel a bed—a very uncomfortable one that had springs stabbing her back—under her. Her wrists and ankles were locked in iron handcuffs so no matter how hard she thrashed around she couldn't move off the bed._

_What was worse… was on top of all of that, she was naked. Her clothes were gone. She was bare for anyone to see. _

_She didn't know how long she was like that before she felt her skin grow raw from her attempts at escape. Her heart was racing, fear ate away at her, so many horrible thoughts ran through her head. Yet, none could compare with what would actually occur to her. _

_"Hot damn," was the first words she heard, coated in a thick Osaka accent—something she had always disliked. "You are a cute little thing, ain't ya'?"_

_"Get away!" She screamed the second she felt his touch against her bare legs._

_"No, baby, I'm paying good money to my friend to get an hour with ya'—_real_ good money to be the first," he bragged as he ran his hand up her thighs to her center. She screamed then, it was only the first of many times that he'd make her cry out, which only sparked him to push a smelly dirty sock in her mouth to silence her._

_She could feel him inside of her, moving his finger all around an area that had been previously untouched. Rin never had a boyfriend… unlike most of her friends she thought age fifteen was too young to care about such things. She had no interest in boys, no interest in kissing, no interest in sex._

_But that didn't mean boys—rather men—had no interest in her. Or not interest in sex…_

_She whimpered, cried, tried to move away but he continued to rub his finger around within her. It wasn't until he felt like it that he pulled it out to grab hold of her legs and pry them open. It didn't take him much effort, even though she had resisted he was a grown man and much stronger. What he had done already caused a terrible ache below, having him thrust fully into her just sparked so much more pain._

_And that… was just the start of her first hour of misery._

She screamed as her eyes opened finally, when she saw the ceiling in her room she knew she wasn't really back in the grimy room, cuffed to the painful bed, she was at Takamoru Manor. She was with Sesshomaru and Jaken… still it took effort to get her steady breath back as she slowly sat up and raised her shaky hand to her forehead.

It was just a dream, she told herself, but that didn't make it any easier. She was still sacred, she still felt herself shake, and she didn't know what to do… maybe she should just get up and not try to sleep for the rest of the night?

"Rin?" got her to look over at her door, she knew from the voice that it was Sesshomaru. Usually, if she screamed in her sleep she only woke Jaken up. Instantly she felt ashamed and frowned.

"I'm sorry, Sesshomaru-sama, I didn't mean to wake you."

"You didn't," he assured her as he opened the door to look in and visually make sure she was alright. "What is wrong?"

"Nothing, just a nightmare, I'm sorry I screamed…" she muttered as she let her eyes meet the ground.

He didn't say anything to that but she did hear him sit down next to her, which got her to look up to him. His eyes were just fixated on her, calmly, as they always were. Really, she had never seen him anything but calm. Never mad, never nervous, never on edge… never anything. How could someone be so stoic? Was he emotionless? Was that how he did it?

Would she feel better if she was emotionless, too?

"I think I'm just going to get up and study some," Rin stated, that way she didn't have to close her eyes again. That way… she never had to be afraid of what she'd see behind shut lids.

"It's two in the morning," Sesshomaru countered, "do you have an important exam tomorrow?"

No, she didn't, but she just shrugged her shoulder instead of shaking her head. "Next week are a couple of exams before the holiday break."

"Go back to sleep, Rin," he requested, "you need your rest."

"I…" she swallowed as she looked away from him, "I'm scared to go back to sleep."

He just nodded his head before he wrapped an arm around her to bring her head to his chest. At first she tensed up, surprised by his touch, before she relaxed and, slowly, shut her eyes. Like that, she could fall asleep again without the fear of another night terror taking away her chance at slumber.

* * *

**oooOoOooo**

* * *

It honestly made no sense to her, she rejected and ignored all his advances, but Keiji still continued to show interest in her. She wasn't that pretty, there were more beautiful girls at school than her, and she didn't have a glowing and unique personality so what made her so interesting? Why did he continue to try his utmost to court her?

If she gave him some sign that she was interested then would he finally get bored? Was the thrill in the chase for him? Whatever it was, she'd be more annoyed with him if it weren't for the fact that his advances were always subtle. He would never force his interest on her.

Though she assured him it wasn't necessary, Keiji continuously offered to take her home, to walk her from school to make sure she was safe. After telling him he didn't need to bother three times but he did it anyway, she just gave up. He could follow her if he wanted.

When they were just outside of Takamoru Manor he stopped her by taking her wrist, lightly, to gain her attention and even turn her towards him so they were face to face. He had a light smile on his face, yet a rather serious look as well. He asked, "let's go on an actual date, Rin, please?"

She withheld the urge to sigh, he was persistent she'd give him that. Her brown eyes shifted back to the front door before returning to Keiji. "My uncle doesn't allow me to date. Not until I'm eighteen, Keiji. I've told you that."

"Your uncle is overly protective of you but… I guess that makes sense," Rin only could assume that he was referring to the fact that her parents, Sesshomaru's brother, supposedly died.

"Thank you for understanding, Keiji," she said with a smile. The next thing she knew he was leaning in to kiss her, briefly, innocently upon the lips. She wasn't totally turned off by the notion, nor was she scared. She knew he meant no harm.

"I'll just have to wait another year then," Keiji proclaimed before he turned around to head down the hill to the main part of the village where he lived.

Rin shook her head free of the distraction then finished her walk to the house. Once she got in she started to take off her shoes and much to her surprise when she looked up she saw Sesshomaru standing there. "Hello, Sesshomaru-sama."

"Do you plan to date that boy?" he inquired, rather coldly at that.

"That… boy? Keiji?" she guessed, the idea that Sesshomaru had seen her getting kissed… it was embarrassing. She hated it. "No. I don't."

"Good," was all he said before he turned to walk away.

* * *

**oooOoOooo**

* * *

It was a school holiday which would give her a week off of school, usually when those came around all her friends_—_supposed friends, that was_—_would go off to somewhere nice or visit family. She'd just stay at home with Jaken and Sesshomaru. That was fine, she never minded.

Yet… weirdly enough, really weirdly, this time around it was different. Sesshomaru offered to take her somewhere. He had business out of town that would take him a week, what hat business was he neglected to mention, but he was willing to take her along. Happily, she agreed.

Unfortunately, the place Sesshomaru was taking her was Osaka. She had never been there but the accents bothered her. They always had, even before the incident. Still… she wanted to go with Sesshomaru, he never offered to take her anywhere so she didn't want to deny him.

When they got there he had rented two hotel rooms, one for her, one for him, both next to each other. It was weird to be lying on a western bed when she had been sleeping on a futon since she moved in with Sesshomaru. Another downer about the trip, he had to do a lot of work so often she'd be stuck wandering Osaka alone.

She went to a café for lunch on one of the days, she didn't have a problem with eating alone, but apparently someone else did. Once she got her food and sat down a boy slid into the seat across from her to attempt to strike up conversation. He was around her age, she guessed, with a thick accent which meant local. And no matter how little she said he continued to talk.

"How long are you going to be here on with your uncle?" the boy asked.

"Only two more days," she answered.

"Well, then you ought to make those two days count," he stated with a grin, "how about you and me get dinner tonight? I know a real nice local place."

"Oh, I'm sorry, but I don't think my uncle would like that. He's pretty protective of me," she said, as politely as possible.

"Aw, but he lets you wander around all by your lonesome here in Osaka?" he inquired with a frown, "I think he wouldn't mind you coming to dinner with me."

He didn't know her uncle… but, in reality, she didn't have an uncle and she wasn't sure how Sesshomaru would feel about her going to dinner with a boy she just met. It wasn't like he'd take her to dinner himself, he had done that two or three times when they were there but she doubted he would that night. He seemed particularly busy that day.

Still… she had no interest in him or any other boy for that matter.

"My dad is the best butcher in Osaka, how about at the very least you come with me and I get you some of the best meat in Osaka? I'm sure your uncle would like that, right? My dad goes to Kyoto all the time for business, he'll like meeting a native gal from there."

That might actually be true, Sesshomaru did enjoy his meat in his meals, so she accepted his offer. Maybe she could find a way to cook something for Sesshomaru that night? So she followed him out of the café and just down the block to where his father's shop was. There was a large line, apparently he was good, but because she was with his son they could go right past it.

"Hey, dad!" the boy called out.

"Hey, kid," he chuckled but didn't bother to look up from what he was chopping.

_Hey, kid_… she felt a terrible pang in her when she heard that.

_"Hey kid," the man with accent from Osaka would chime every time he entered the room. That's how she knew it was him… how she knew that _that_ horror would start again. He was always so harsh with her, like he was riding a horse, every time he mounded her._

"Rin, you okay?" snapped her back to the moment.

That voice… she knew it, her chocolates shifted up to see the man behind the counter, just waiting for him to look over at that.

"Yeah," she whispered back.

"Dad, this is my friend from Kyoto," he kept up to gain his father's attention once more.

It was then, finally, that he looked up from his cutting to see them. His eyes widened, his lips parted, and his skin became so pale. he lost focus on his work so much that he cut himself badly with his knife, causing him to curse out. Quickly, his son rushed to his aid… and that was when Rin slipped away.

She knew his voice, she remembered how he always smelled vaguely of meat… and when she exited she could see that it was called Shin & Son's Butchery. Shin… was one of the men like Eita said. He also said that one of them was a butcher.

It had to be him so she rushed back to the hotel to pick up her phone and call Sesshomaru's line. It was meant for emergencies only and she knew surely felt it was an emergency. It took until the third ring for him to answer.

"Yes?"

"Sesshomaru-sama, it is Rin," she stated swiftly but couldn't finish her sentence before he started.

"What's wrong?"

"I… I… I think."

"Rin, I'm in the middle of something, in less this is an emergency I will be hanging up."

"At Shin & Son's Butchery I found another one of them. He reacted very badly when he saw me. He's the owner, the butcher that the fat one mentioned. He's name is Shin. That guy said that he only knew first names: Shin, Hiro, and Seiji. He's Shin. He… he's one of them."

For a while, there was a pause, then he spoke again, "I will call you in an hour to tell you where to meet me. We will take care of this tonight."

"Alright… thank you," Rin replied before she hung up, even then her hands were already shaking. Thrilled was never the way she felt before each kill but she was eager. She was just eager to get it over with. She wanted it all done with… she _needed_ them to go away.

* * *

**oooOoOooo**

* * *

As promised, he called her in an hour to give her an address. One that took her walking almost an hour to get to. By the time she got there the room was already coated in plastic wrap once more, but this time there was already a small about of blood splattered about and two sets of black garbage bags filled in the side of the room. That was how the bodies were always disposed of when finished. Had he already done it without her?

"Sesshomaru-sama?" Rin called out, softly as she walked over to the bags to open up one of them. Instantly she jumped away. She had never seen the man in the bag before in her life… he was dead, obviously, but why?

Why did Sesshomaru kill people? She had to get rid of those people to live again. They had hurt her in ways unimaginable to most… but why did Sesshomaru do it? Where did his darkness come from?

"Rin, close that up," Sesshomaru demanded while he entered the room lugging a body over his shoulder. That one was Shin, he plopped him down on the table and wrapped his legs and arms in the restraints before putting the gag in his mouth.

She did as she was told, wordlessly, and tied the black bag back up before she walked over to stand next to him. Shin was definitely the one with the Osaka accent. But her chocolates shifted up to Sesshomaru instead.

"Sesshomaru-sama," she whispered, almost so lightly she wasn't sure if he heard her or not. He glanced down at her all the same. "Why… do you do it?"

"Do what?"

Kill people was what she wanted to know, she gathered he was paid to do it, that that was his work but… she didn't want to ask. She was afraid of the answer. Afraid that he might be mad that she asked. So instead she said something else, something that she had always been curious about, "why do you help me?"

His golden gaze remained locked to her for a while before it shifted back to Shin. She didn't get the answer she wanted, apparently, since he looked back to Shin to tap his cheek harshly to get the man to wake up. When he did, just like the others, he was groggy at first before fear festered in his eyes. It only grew when they landed on her.

"I know, I should be dead," she stated, they always looked at her as if she was a ghost at first. Maybe she would be better off if she was…

"I am going to remove the gag," he warned as he lifted a knife to the man's throat, "you scream and I slit your throat. Blink once if you understand."

As requested, Shin blinked once, so Sesshomaru slowly removed the gag.

"What are the other men's name?" Sesshomaru inquired.

"Last names," Rin requested, "Hiro and Seiji _what_?"

"W-We never did last names," he stammered, "what are you going… going to do to me?"

"Nothing nearly as bad as what you did to me," Rin retorted. "You deserve to be tortured for seven days straight. That's what I had to suffer through."

"I'm sorry, I'm sorry!" he sobbed, "I'm sorry! It's not my fault! I can't help that I like little girls!"

To that, Sesshomaru merely slapped his across the face, "shut up. Tell us anything you know about the other men. Anyway we can find them."

"Hiro… Hiro was… uh, Hiro was… he drove a black Acura MDX, I think. There… there I helped you, please… please don't kill me! Please! I have a son!" That was the last thing he said before Sesshomaru stuck the gag back in his mouth and held out the knife for Rin to take.

But… all she could think about was that he did have a son. A son that she met that day. She wanted the man dead, she did. But she couldn't do it.

"I can't," she muttered as she looked up to him, "will you…?"

"Why?" he questioned, last time she had managed to at least hold the blade. He had to help her lower it but she did partake in the crime.

"I just can't," she mumbled while her eyes shifted to the ground. "Please, Sesshomaru-sama?"

The next thing she heard was the sound of the knife going in. Three times now he had killed for her and she still didn't know why. Whatever the reason was, she was grateful. She couldn't do it alone… she needed help.

She needed him.

* * *

_**A/N**: Thank you for all the reviews. As a present, here is a review! And only a few days after the last update. I'm proud of myself. I promise to update soon.  
_


	6. Darkness Captured

**Chapter Warning: Assault & Violence**

* * *

**.|.****R**_evenge's_ **R**_eaper_**.|.  
**•.**C**_hapter_** S**_ix: _**D**_arkness _**C**_aptured_.•  
**oooOoOooo**

* * *

Gradually, hazily, that seemingly endless abyss of darkness within her was fading. Not rapidly, not wholly, but partly with each realization that one of the men that hurt her would never harm her again… never rape another girl. It gave her hope, very faint hope, but hope at least. Maybe someday she could be normal again.

That darkness that drifted out of the wound left in her after the assault and wrapped around her soul seemed to slowly be fading away bit by bit. With each crime she helped commit, one would think that would make her feel worse, logical would seem to say just that but… it did the opposite. Sometimes, when she was with her friends, she even felt _normal_. The laughs left her easier, the smiles were less forced, and things just seemed better.

Whenever she had her weak moments, when the nightmares made her cry again, she had someone to comfort her. Sesshomaru, he would sit with her maybe even hold her. He'd never say much, but just having him there did make her feel better. He was… so important to her.

After the last therapy session, the one with Shin the butcher, they had a lead but a weak one. Hiro was a very common first name and there were way too many of them that drove Acura MDXs. It was utterly upsetting to wait again but… it worked out the first couple of times so it probably would work out again. At least that was what she hoped. Even if it didn't, for some reason, she had faith that Sesshomaru would figure it out.

Somehow, someway.

And she found a way to distract herself, with her school classes, her sword lessons, and even all the things her friends dragged her to do. Well, after some time, they didn't really need to drag her. She would just go. On weekends she'd go on camping trips with them, go on weekends away in the city, and other things along that line.

Then, just a week before her eighteenth birthday, she went on a school trip to Tokyo. It was meant to help students decide what to do about university since they'd be visiting a couple. Keiji was one of her friends that was on the trip and the one that happened to be around her the most.

He was… a little excited over the prospect that she'd soon be eighteen, which meant they could actually date. Really, she didn't think she was that great or interesting or worth waiting for but he did. It made her feel a little special but when she finally did turn eighteen then she _would_ have to give an explanation for not wanting to date him.

Because she didn't want to, did she? He was a good friend, a very good friend, but nothing more. There wasn't anything in her that felt something stronger than friendship for Keiji, right? It'd be normal if she did but she was just getting to be normal, not normal all the way.

"How many times have you been to Tokyo?" Keiji asked as they walked towards Rikkyo University campus for a lecture by a professor to get a feel for what it'd be like when they were really at college.

"This is actually my first time," she said, much to his surprise, but back when she lived with her drunk mom she didn't ever go on vacation. When she got the invitation to go on the trip for being one of the top students she didn't think she'd actually get to go, it cost money, and she didn't even bother to tell Sesshomaru. Jaken must have seen it somewhere while he was cleaning and then showed it to Sesshomaru.

"You should go," Sesshomaru had told her a week ago. He thought it would be a good way to allow her to explore her options so he financed the trip for her. On the one hand, she was very happy to go, on the other, she felt… like maybe he was just getting ready to get rid of her.

"That's crazy," Keiji proclaimed to gain her attention back but the conversation died then when Keiji grabbed her to pull her closer. At first she was stunned but it made sense in a second, a car sped past them and into a parking space so swiftly that if she had taken that step off of the curb to go across the parking lot to the main entrance then she would have been hit…

"Thank you," Rin asserted, ever so sincerely, once Keiji let her go.

"No problem," he assured her with a way of his hand, "sometimes you can be so spacey, Rin."

"Yeah," she muttered back as her gaze landed on the car as a man with salt and pepper hair got out of the car to slam the door shut and rush to the door. Apparently, he was in a hurry. It wasn't until they walked by it that she got a good look a the black SUV to see that it was an Acura… an Acura MDX.

Not even ten minutes later, when they were all situated in their seats waiting for the first lecture that they would ever have at a university by an actual professor, they saw the same man from the car walk in to introduce himself.

"Hello, I am professor Kangawa Hiro. I teach history here at the university," he declared as he set his bag down on the desk in the front.

Instantly, that earned Rin's attention. He was a _Hiro_ who drove a black Acura MDX… but there were a lot like him so she couldn't be certain he was another one of them. Besides, he lived in Tokyo and not Kyoto were she had been tortured though one of them did live in Osaka so they didn't need to live in Kyoto. Her mind could hardly focus on the lecture that he started on.

Just like, apparently, he couldn't since the moment her eyes landed on Rin he choked on his own words to start to cough. His eyes were wide on her, his complexion pale as the moon, and then he found a way to speak again. "I… I-I'm sorry I have to go."

And just like that he was gone.

"If that's how college lectures are I'm looking forward to them," Keiji joked to Rin, but she couldn't really appreciate it, instead she excused herself to use the faculties. Instead of going to the bathroom she pulled out her phone to call Sesshomaru once more.

"Sesshomaru-sama?"

It was just after the third ring that she heard, "Rin, what's wrong?"

"I think… I think I found another."

Then there was a pause before he said, "I'll be there shortly."

* * *

**oooOoOooo**

* * *

"That was a really weird session at Rikkyo, huh?" Keiji questioned once the entered the hotel they were staying at. They all were sharing rooms, but the three other girls that she roomed with had gone off to explore Tokyo some while she decided to head back to the hotel and wait for Sesshomaru. Keiji, being the gentlemen he insisted he was, offered to walk her.

"Yeah," she replied.

"It was like he saw a ghost or something."

"Yeah," she drew out again as she pulled out her keycard for the hotel room. "Thanks for walking me back, Keiji."

"Not a problem," he countered with a smile, she was slightly sure that he might have expected her to invite him back which was why she lied.

"I'm going to take a shower, then maybe go meet up with the others," she proclaimed, "what are you going to do?"

"Probably go hang out with Seiji and look around, when you get done you should call me and I'll tell you where we are."

"Sure," she chimed, though she had no intention of doing that. She'd just tell him later that she accidently fell asleep or something. He wouldn't mind, he'd forgive her, and just like that she got to enter her hotel room alone. Since she did actually want to take a shower she turned on the hot water, it would be at least another two hours before Sesshomaru arrived then they would have to figure out what to do next.

She knew his name, his _full_ name, Kangawa Hiro and from the way he reacted when he saw her he could be one of them. His voice was familiar… very familiar, but it had been so long that she couldn't be certain anymore. Before she got the chance to strip down and hop into the shower she heard the door open and shut, curiously she looked out of the bathroom to see which of her roommates had returned.

What she got instead was a bash over her head so she could see only black as she fell to the ground.

* * *

**oooOoOooo**

* * *

Groggily, she groaned while she rolled on the cold floor she was upon as she pried open her eyes to see an empty room. _Where_ was she…? What had happened? The last thing she knew she was in the bathroom at the hotel, it was midday, and now it was dark outside and she was in a room somewhere.

"Finally, you're awake," someone called out as the door opened and shut. Quickly she turned her confused chestnut stare to the man who had entered. Kangawa Hiro, driver of a black Acura MDX, and apparently a kidnapper. Which meant… yeah, he was one of the men. There were only two left, and she had a strong sense that he wasn't the one that never spoke and reeked of Shichimi Togarashi.

That left… the man with the hoarse, gruff, grotesque voice much like Hiro's - exactly, actually - that constantly told her, "you'll be dead soon."

But that hadn't been true. _She_ got away. _She_ survived.

"You're one of the men that kidnapped me," Rin stated as she got to her feet and backed up against the wall. "Kidnapping me again was a really bad idea. Haven't you been wondering what happened to the rest of your friends? Eita, Shin, Ichigo? I'm sure you perverts noticed that you were slowly disappearing."

He just chuckled, harshly, at that before asking, "you trying to tell me you had something to do with their disappearances?"

"I saw each of them die, killed some of them myself," she snapped back.

"Looks like we created a monster," he mocked before he took a set of swift steps forward, even though she tried to avoid him she didn't. He grabbed her by the neck with his rough, large hands and held tight. "I had hoped your injuries had killed you after you made your escape. You were our first, so we made some mistakes. But we learned from them for the next girls. I told them all you were dead. It's my job to kill the girls, the sex is good but… the rush of feeling something die within your grasp is too much."

"Let me go," she struggled to say, and just barely got it out before he gripped her tighter. So tight that she couldn't breathe, that her lungs began to beg for air, and burn.

"This is how I killed the others."

She kicked and scratched and did everything she thought she could to get away but he was twice as big as her… there wasn't anything she could do. She was going to die just like that. At the hands of one of her rapists. He was going to kill her… like he always said he would.

That horrific thought was the last one that crossed her mind before everything began to fade to black for the second time in one day. It might have just been her imagination playing tricks on her while she was on the brink of unconsciousness but she was certain she heard a scream… and felt the ground against her instead of a pair of hands.

* * *

**oooOoOooo**

* * *

"Rin… Rin… Rin…" she heard, over and over again, in a soft yet stern voice. It beckoned to her through the blackness, gradually allowing her to return to the light, to cough and gasp for air as she opened her eyes to see her silver haired savior holding her in a plastic covered room.

"S… Sess… Sesshomaru-sama?"she meekly managed to get out.

"When I got to your hotel you were gone, I could smell some of your blood and followed the trail here. I got here in time to stop him," Sesshomaru explained as his golden gaze shifted over to the table that Hiro was strapped to, it was obvious from his attempts to struggle free that he was also awake. "I wanted to kill him but I thought… you'd rather."

"Thank you," she muttered, for more than one reason. He had saved her, yet again, and even kept Hiro alive so that she could end him. He had tried to kill her, kidnapped her twice, raped her… admitted to killing other innocent girls just like her and even raping them, too. So… yes, she wanted to.

She wanted to kill him, very much.

At first when Sesshomaru helped her to her feet she was wobbly, so much so that he had to hold her close to keep her steady. For a while they just remained like that until she could walk over to the table and look over the man. Her gaze quickly went up to the taller Sesshomaru, though, so she could ask, "can you get him to tell us who the last man is?"

He could try, so he took out his knife and pulled out the man's gag. "You picked this location to take her, you know how futile it would be to scream. I will slowly cut off useless limbs until you tell us what we want to know, so save us all the effort. Tell me how to find Seiji, the last one left."

"You're the motherfucker that's been helping this hell bitch get to us?" Hiro spat, literally, in Sesshomaru's face. A large mistake on his part, since in a matter of seconds he lost his ear for that. A terrible scream of agony existed the man, but neither flinched.

"You'll kill me either way so fuck you!" Hiro shouted, "I don't even know how to find Seiji! We don't give each other last names, we just call one another when it's time to meet in Kyoto."

"That's all we needed to know," Sesshomaru stated as he put the gag back in his mouth and handed the blade to Rin. "Would you like to?"

Hesitantly, she took the knife and nodded her head. She couldn't do it right away… so she just stared at his chest for a while, the spot that she had to place the blade to make his heart stop… forever. She took a shaky breath in as she walked over to him.

She had to say something first, "you'll be dead soon."

Then with all her might she lifted the blade and thrust it down then shut her eyes, cringing at the sound it made and the small splatter of blood it caused. For so long, she clung to the handle, unable to pry her hand away or even open her eyes. Singlehandedly, well sort of, she had just killed a man.

She ended his existence.

"Rin," Sesshomaru whispered as he grabbed her hand to guide her in letting go. Gradually, she opened her eyes then to look up at him. "You did well."

She almost smiled, until she realized he was commending her on killing someone so instead she merely said, "thank you."

He nodded his head at that before he looked over Hiro then slid his hand in his pocket to pull out a phone. It didn't need a number code to unlock it, just to hold down on the pound sign until the lock screen disappeared. Then Sesshomaru scrolled through the list to find any Seiji. It was a common name so he had expected to find a few, but instead there was just one.

One without a last name.

Perhaps they thought themselves clever not telling one another their surnames, but if they just gave their phone numbers anyway Sesshomaru hardly saw the point. But that happened, people though they were smart when they were really stupid. So he pressed call and put the phone to his pointed ears.

"You've reached Oishii Ramen Stand, we are currently not open, please leave a message."

Then again… if they gave numbers to public places, it'd be harder to trace them.

"I called the only Seiji in his phone," Sesshomaru elaborated for Rin's sake, "it leads to an Oishii Ramen Stand."

"A… Ramen stand?" Rin stuttered. That… that made perfect sense. The last one smelled of Shichimi Togarashi which was used to make ramen. Each time she smelled it she felt sick, she remembered all those times he came to visit her while she was tied to the bed. She hadn't eaten ramen since, she hated it when her friends ate it around her.

"Yes, does that mean something to you?"

She nodded her head slowly, "the last one smelled like Shichimi Togarashi."

She didn't need to say anything, she could tell from the look on his face as he locked his gorgeous golden globes with her stare… he understood. Finally, they had a good lead for the next man.

The last man. After he was gone, after _none_ of them existed anymore, after all of the work that they had done… would it really be over? Would she feel the darkness that ate away at her vanish?

Forever?

* * *

_**A/N**: Thank you for all the reviews. I appreciate them all. I don't feel like I did as well with this chapter as I did with the others, but I hope you still enjoyed it nevertheless. _


	7. Darkness Completed

**Chapter Warning: Violence & Flashbacks**

* * *

**.|.****R**_evenge's_ **R**_eaper_**.|.  
**•.**C**_hapter_** S**_even: _**D**_arkness _**C**_ompleted_.•  
**oooOoOooo**

* * *

_A man of slim build pressed his body against hers, reeking of Shichimi Togarashi all the while, as she was locked to the bed and eyes always hidden behind a blindfold. Each time she caught a whiff of that scent she knew it was him. The one she hated to see the most, only because he came with a frequency double that of any of the other men… _

_Every time he left in her throbbing pain, both below and from the blade that he used to carve into her. Then there was the eerie silence, never did he speak. Always he did the same thing, he slid the cold blade up her bare stomach not yet cutting her. She assumed he did it to see her scrum in terror for the minutes he did that… then there was the sound of a blow torch._

_She always knew what was to come after that. The slices up and down her legs and arms. They weren't deep, few ever scared after they finally healed, it was just enough to spark some blood. Blood that he licked off of her as he fondled himself below._

_It was never sex that he was after, he never thrashed himself into her. It was the blood, the horror he caused her, that got him off. That he sought, that he seemed to live for… and it was what she feared more than the whip. The whip stung for a long time but the cuts would ache for forever. Each time another one of the rapists found her, each time they twisted and contorted her to their liking, she'd always feel the pain of the cuts, too._

_They were what haunted her the most._

"Rin?" she heard for the first, regardless of the fact that it was actually the fourth time he said her name, got her to snap out of the horrific memory and look over to the man that has saved her from all of that. If not for him, she would be dead. The injuries she had probably would have gotten infected and if they hadn't then… she would have given up on life.

If he hadn't found her that night, she would have found her way to a bridge to leap off.

"Sesshomaru-sama," she replied. He was an utter mystery to her. He didn't make the least bit of sense. There was no reason for him to keep her around, to help her, to save her that night but he did. One of the things she would have liked most was to learn why he did that but not yet.

She still needed his help to find the last man left. The one that smelled of Shichimi Togarashi, that ruined ramen for her forever. After it was finished she'd ask him, beg him even to tell her why.

"I checked on the ramen stand that Seiji's number went to," he announced, if he didn't have her complete attention before then he was certain he had it then. "Saito Seiji is the owner and head chief. He is well known here in Tokyo for his recipe and highly sought after. Apparently, a person might wait up to two hours in line just to have one bowl of his ramen."

"Is that so?" Rin inquired, not really expecting an answer of any sort. All that mattered to her was the prospect of finding the one she had always feared the most of riding the world of him If they could get to him… if they were to end him, then the nightmares that still plagued her over what he did would disappear just like his body, wouldn't it?

That's how it worked with the others. Each time they killed one, she felt a bit of the darkness they had created within her dissipate. Once it seemed so grand, so forceful inside of her. It had drained all the light in her life, leaving her hallow and empty, filled with fear, regret, sadness, and anger. Yet… with Sesshomaru's help, with each new attack, she could feel it leave her. It was almost like when she was a child and could feel her baby teeth loosen to eventually fall off and disappear forever to be replaced with a newer one, a better one.

Her old self was slowly vanishing, to be replaced with something else. Something better, at least that was what she hoped as she waited for Sesshomaru to say something. Much like Jaken, she considered him her lord. He was her… everything. If not for him, she'd be nothing.

Regardless of what he might do for a living, she knew he was a great man. There was good in him, albeit that goodness was warped by his own darkness. One that seemed so endless that he could be swallowed up by it if he weren't careful. Where his darkness had been created wasn't something she knew… because, really, if she stopped to think about it she knew nearly nothing about the man she nearly worshiped.

He helped her, he took care of her, he made sure nothing bad ever happened to her… what else did she need to know? Even though she probably should have, she never really thought of him like an uncle. She never saw him like she did family… he was something more to her. Something greater.

Whatever he was to her, he owned her heart. Completely. Wholly.

"Meet me here," Sesshomaru ordered to gain her attention after he finished writing something down on a piece of paper then handed it to her. "Give me four hours."

"Alright," she whispered back as her hand trembled ever so slightly as she reached out to the small slip of paper. She knew what that meant… in four hours he'd have Seiji there. In four hours she'd confront that man… in maybe five hours it'd all be over.

It was scary in a wonderful way.

* * *

**oooOoOooo**

* * *

For a multitude of hours she wandered around Tokyo, trying her utmost to keep her mind off of what was going to happen in order to allow time to pass by quicker. It didn't work too well, waiting those four hours felt like fourteen at the very least. Eventually, though, she did find her way to the address that Sesshomaru had written down for her.

Already she saw the places was prepared for what was going to happen, plastic wrap was everywhere. It took forever to put that up, and Sesshomaru always did it because he didn't want any openings to allow for mistakes. After all, it would be horrible if they ever got caught. Then taking it down and getting rid of the body also took ages, she helped with that but… she shook her head.

There was no reason for her to get ahead of herself. Something _could _go wrong. Each time had been so smooth, Sesshomaru never let anything go wrong… but still, it could happen. Waiting for him to get there was always the worse. Not only was the anticipation slowly killing her but there was plenty of time to worry.

Worry over whether something had happened to Sesshomaru while he grabbed Seiji. Worry that someone might have seen him… worry that he might have gotten arrested. But, just like every time before, he came in through the door with a knocked out man over his shoulder to lie upon the table he had prepared, tie up, and then gag.

"He is the last one, am I right?" Sesshomaru inquired as he looked over to her, her heavy brown eyes stuck on the unconscious man. He had done so much to her… caused her to much fear, so much pain, and still haunted her dreams. Even though Sesshomaru was there, even though Seiji was tied up and asleep, she… still felt fear fester in her.

"Rin," Sesshomaru softly said to finally snap her back to the moment. "He is the last one?"

Slowly, she nodded her head.

It wasn't difficult for him to discover that she was scared, he so often invoked that emotion in others that it was easy for him to see it etched into her face. She was always a little scared each time it came to this, killing one of those who harmed her. Never had she flat out said what happened to her, but it wasn't hard for him to figure that out, too.

But… this time seemed different. As if she wasn't scared of the general situation, unsettled by what they were about to do, but instead afraid of the man lying in front of them. He was tied up so there was no way he could break free to harm her. Besides, most importantly, _he_ was there and no one was ever going to get the chance to hurt her while he was around.

"He… used to use a blade," she whispered, unevenly, "and cut me all over after he made it heat up with a torch beforehand… he was the worst, the one I was always most scared of… it was so creepy because he never spoke. The only way I ever knew it was him was from the stench of Shichimi Togarashi."

It was rare that she volunteered information on what happened to her, but he was grateful for it since it gave him an idea. He took a few steps away to kneel down beside his black duffle bag, filled with all his playthings, to rummage around it until he found a knife. It was longer than the one she usually saw him use, then he took out a large lighter and lit to while he started to wave it under the blade.

She didn't have to ask, she already knew what he was up to and that frightened her a little. Somehow, over time, she had gotten on the same wave length mentally as his wicked mind. Granted, a great mind but an ever so warped one.

Unlike all the others, he let whatever he did to Seiji wear off so that he could wake up on his own. By then, the blade was plenty hot enough that Sesshomaru just slit his upper shoulder to cause a cringe but no cry. It surprised the both of them, usually they would get upset and start to groan and moan in an attempt to talk through the gag to plea for their lives.

Instead, the man just locked eyes with Sesshomaru. A strange sense of determination in his sick, small, sea-blue eyes. Just to test a theory, Sesshomaru did it again, slicing the blade from his upper right arm down to his elbow. The man cringed again, but not as if he was in pain or hated the sensation… it was more like a shiver. One someone would get when something thrilling or enjoyable were to happen.

"I see," Sesshomaru muttered to himself.

"See," Rin started, only to choke on her own words when Seiji's gaze turned to her. She could just seem a smirk in the way that he looked at her. It made her ill. But she forced herself to finish, "S-see… what?"

"He isn't just a sadist but also a masochist. He enjoys the pain. Torturing him won't do us any good."

"Oh," she whispered, though, in all reality, she didn't see how it would have done her any good to start out with. Yes, she wanted the main tied up in front of her to die for what he did to her and surely other innocent girls but she wasn't a sadist herself. She didn't get off in seeing someone else being hurt.

If Sesshomaru wanted to torture him… did that mean he might have a little bit of sadist in him?

"I just want him gone, Sesshomaru-sama," Rin replied, softly, as her ginger gaze gradually turned to him.

HIs golden gaze switched then from Seiji to Rin before he nodded his head and handed over the elongated knife to the distressed damsel. Hesitantly, she took it from him to return her gaze to Seiji. He just stared at her as if he didn't believe she had the strength to do it. Almost as if he was daring her to try…

A part of her wanted to take the gag out of his mouth, to ask him why he did it, but then she'd know his voice… and even if she were to kill him, she might still be haunted by that sound. So instead she took a deep series of breaths in while she lifted the knife up to above her head then, with all her might, thrashed it down to stab the man where his heart should have been. It was hard for her to imagine that he actually possessed one after all that he had done.

A breath rushed into her as she took a swift step away to watch as the life left him… the last man. The only one left that had hurt her. He was… dead. They were all gone.

It was… over.

* * *

**oooOoOooo**

* * *

Upon their return to Takamoru manor, something was vastly different deep within her. She had started to feel it right after they finished cleaning up the scene that had been Seiji's last. That darkness that had warped her so immensely had started to fade away… gradually, at first_,_ it was almost unnoticeable.

Then the more time that passed the more she became certain it was going away. All that time she was trying not to focus on it, she was attempting to focus fully on the entrance exams for the universities she would like to go to. Before, she had never thought she would go to college. Her mother had never been supportive.

But after the tests were taken, she was sure of one thing. It was gone. That darkness that had been so suffocating at times. The nightmares that haunted her… all of it, was gone. So… she couldn't do it anymore.

"Sesshomaru-sama," Rin slowly started to gain his attention away from the breakfast that he had just finished. "Can we talk?"

"Yes," he answered as he looked away from the newspaper he was reading.

"Why… did you help me like you did?" She inquired, it was a question that plagued her for so long but she always feared asking. "Why did you save me?"

For a while, he just looked at her. She couldn't believe that he was surprised that she finally asked. It was a pressing question, one that he had to know she had always wondered about. But it didn't matter, she was willing to wait until he finally gave her an answer.

"I don't hurt children," he began, "thus… when you stumbled upon me all those years back in the warehouse after I finished my job I could not just leave you there to die. And," he paused, "you did see what I did. I could hardly let you tell."

"I wouldn't, ever," she assured him.

"I believe that," he replied with a nod.

"So," she started up again, "why help me with the rest? With… getting rid of those men."

"It is what I do," he simply stated, "I take care of problems for others."

"But… those people usually pay you," she meekly pointed out, "I haven't."

"You have, in your own way," he countered, much to her surprise. She wanted to ask what that meant but he spoke again, "why are you asking this now, Rin?"

"I…" she swallowed while she looked down to an envelope in her hands. It had just come in the mail, weeks and weeks after she finished her tests. It would change everything. "I… can't do it anymore, Sesshomaru-sama. The darkness that swept within me is gone."

He didn't have to ask what she meant by that. He understood. She couldn't kill anymore, she couldn't be around death, the darkness that had been in sync with his own, that had been its match, was gone. He had hoped, though he would never say it aloud, that doing what he did would help heal her. Apparently, it did.

For that, he was grateful yet… saddened, at the same time. Because it meant one thing was to come. He was right, too, since she said exactly what he had expected.

She was leaving.

"I got into a good university in Tokyo," she announced with a weak smile as she held up the envelope she had received. "I even got a scholarship."

"Good," he replied, "congratulations, Rin."

She pressed her lips together as she looked down to it. "I… am supposed to move in tomorrow."

Yes, it was sudden news and she was probably late to tell him but she had been afraid. She didn't know how he would react and… a part of her didn't want it to be true. She didn't want to leave him but…

The darkness that kept them together wasn't there anymore.

"I see," he muttered, "I can instruct Jaken to pack your things."

"I've already done it," she whispered.

"Oh," he answered with a nod as his golden gaze once more turned down to newspaper he was holding again. He could hear her walking up to her but he didn't look up. Not until she was right there, not even a full inch away from him.

"Thank you for everything, Sesshomaru-sama," she sincerely said as she reached up to cup his face with her hand. He didn't move, he just let his eyes lock with hers. Slowly, she leaned in to press her lips to his. Innocently, briefly, and he allowed it.

"Goodbye, Rin," he almost silently declared as their lips parted

"Goodbye, Sesshomaru-sama."

And though, she didn't want that to be the truth. She didn't want it to be goodbye. But she felt it was the right thing to do. So… she left.__

* * *

_**A/N**: Thank you for all the reviews. I appreciate them all. Hope you are still enjoying the story.  
_


	8. Darkness Disappeared

**Chapter Warning: Lemon**

* * *

**.|.****R**_evenge's_ **R**_eaper_**.|.  
**•.**C**_hapter_** E**_ight: _**D**_arkness _**D**_isappeared_.•  
**oooOoOooo**

* * *

Life after the darkness, life after Sesshomaru, life after it all… was empty sometimes. But only sometimes, there was never a question to where that emptiness came from since she always knew. It was simple. Sesshomaru wasn't there anymore but neither were the nightmares. As much as she missed him—and oh how she missed him—she didn't miss those nightmares or the terrible feelings that they brought with them.

There would be times, rare times, that something would spark a memory of what had happened to her. She could never predict what would spark those aching thoughts, except for one. Ramen, regardless of how hard she tried to get over it, always took her back to when she was only fifteen and torment for that hellish week. It would take a couple shakes of her head, closing her eyes, and deep breaths to get rid of those thoughts but it would eventually go away. For the most part, she didn't think about it. She didn't think about the killings, what had happened to her or what she had done… which often meant she couldn't think about Sesshomaru.

She had plenty of other things to concern herself with, mostly staying on the top of her class in order to keep her scholarship. Which meant she was studying all the time. She did allow herself a social life, she'd go out with the friends she made and had plenty of fun but she didn't drink. Drinking gave rise to the possibility that she could say something she'd regret.

In regards to boys, there was only ever one other. Keiji did happen to go to the same university as her. She gave dating a go, because if she were going to like a boy then it would be with him. He had been so patient with her, she felt safe with him, but… she just didn't feel that spark she thought she should. They broke up soon after they started up, but remained friends.

The opposite sex never tempted her into dating ever again, though many tried to court her. She just wasn't interested. The only one that sparked her heart to go bump-bump was a man that she could never have. A man she had left in her past… probably for the best. He preferred solitude, didn't he?

Everything in the end paid off, she graduated in the top percentile of her class. Upon completion of college she had more than enough job opportunities which made her luckier than a lot of her classmates. There were companies all over wanting to marketing major, from Osaka to Tokyo and beyond.

The best one, the one with the most money to be made, was Tokyo. She was used to living there, it was a big city with plenty to do, so she decided she'd like to stay. Returning to Kyoto would be too painful, there were too many memories to try and ignore. There was the drunken mother that never bothered to report her missing in Kyoto, the _incident_ that had given birth to that darkness had happened, and… so she didn't want to be there. That was why she took the Tokyo interview as soon as possible. And... she nailed it. She got the job offer officially.

But… something was not there in her life that made the joy from getting the job of her dreams not as great as she would have liked. It wasn't hard for her to figure out what that missing thing was. A tall, lean, silver haired youkai was the answer. Sesshomaru was gone.

Years had passed by… she wondered often if he was still at Takamoru Manor. She supposed he was, it was his family home, and from what Jaken had told her he had lived there for a long while. What could be up to? Still killing people? For pay…?

She didn't think less of him if he did but she did wish, that somehow, someway, that darkness that caused him to do such deeds would make it go away. She wished she could make it go away… wished she could make him happy. But she probably couldn't.

Still… she couldn't take the job offer right away, she needed time to think, so they allowed her time to consider her options. One week. She had seven days to make a choice in her future. Yet, the only way she could make such a decision was going back to where it all really started for her.

To see if there was anything left for her to linger on what had already happened instead of looking forward.

* * *

**oooOoOooo**

* * *

Regardless of her hesitation to take the job right away, they assured her that they would give her a place to stay in Tokyo until she could find an apartment for herself. She had been living in the dorms all four years she was at her university, that was what was covered by her scholarship after all. So, as soon as she stepped out of the company, she looked down to the piece of paper one person had written the address of the apartment on.

It was familiar… looking at a handwritten note on paper with an address for her to follow. It took her a while to get to the apartment, it wasn't huge or anything but it was fully furnished and had plenty of space for her. If she took the job, she would probably just be there for a month before she could find a place of her own. With the paycheck she'd be getting from her job, she'd be able to get an apartment by herself without having to deal with roommates. She would rather live alone. It made things easier.

Everything could be so perfect… except there was one thing missing. It had been plaguing her since she left Takamoru Manor. Really, she had thought it would disappear. That with time she would get over it but… she hadn't.

Maybe she couldn't?

Slowly, she pulled out her phone to look at the blank screen. It was a new number, new device, so it didn't have Sesshomaru's number in it but she had memorized it. As long as he hadn't changed it, it would be easy to dial him up. So many times she had wished to do just that but never had the courage to finally hit 'send'.

Again, like so many times before, she dialed the digits but didn't press send. She stopped right as her thumb was going to hit the button. It was his private line, the one he always told her only to use if it was an emergency.

It wasn't an emergency… it probably wouldn't be something he wanted her to do. So, with a heavily sigh, she turned off her phone and put it in her bag as she turned her big brown eyes to the apartment. It wouldn't make any sense to pass up this job. It was better than anything else she could find but…

There was just that part of her that beseeched her to do something else. To _go_ somewhere else… but would he want her to listen to that part? That side that used to be consumed by her darkness?

They weren't alike anymore. Yes, she was still mildly damaged by what had happened to her but she wasn't as bad off as she used to be. It was manageable, she could have a normal life. She wouldn't have ever called Sesshomaru damaged, but he wasn't normal. He was far from it… they weren't the same anymore.

They didn't belong together.

* * *

**oooOoOooo**

* * *

Well… probably. They _probably_ didn't belong together but that didn't alter the fact that she wanted to see him. Just one last time, that was all she needed before she could finally move on and put all that they were and all they had done in the past. That was why she got on the train that night to go back to the place she had spent her first fifteen years. She checked into a hotel in Kyoto to spend the night before she could get a travel to Takamoru manor the next morning. The place she preferred, it was the place she had happily spent her teen years.

It had been _ages_ since she was as nervous as she happened to be while she waited outside the door. The door she had yet to touch. Her eyes just locked on it while she wrapped her hands together and took a strong series of breaths in.

So many questions flickered through her mind in that moment. Did Sesshomaru want to see her? Would he be happy or annoyed? Was he even there?

Maybe she had gone there only to discover that he wasn't even there. He did travel for work all over Japan, after all. His job… was the biggest problem. As much as she would have enjoyed staying with him for a long time—probably even forever. She didn't think less of him for what he did but… she couldn't live with it.

Slowly, she shook her head to snap herself out of it. She was already there, she should suck it up and find the courage to finally knock. Which was exactly what she did finally to tap her knuckles against the door. It took a while before someone opened the door.

Really, she had expected it to be Jaken but then she recalled how no one could ever see the funny little imp. Still, she was surprised to be face-to-face to Takamoru Sesshomaru after four years of not seeing him… neither spoke, their eyes merely locked. Brown to gold.

It was him, surprisingly enough, that finally broke the silent standoff. "Rin…?"

She swallowed to find her voice before she was able to reply, "Sesshomaru-sama."

"What," he slowly started, "are you doing here?"

"I…" what was she supposed to say? The truth, probably, was the best thing to go with and the truth was simple. It only took five words. "I wanted to see you."

He didn't seem to have anything to say to that but he did step aside then motion for her to come in. Hesitantly, she did. Nothing had changed inside, not that she was surprised. It didn't seem like the décor had been new for ages so why would it have altered in just four years?

"Where is Jaken-sama?" she inquired, knowing full well that he didn't think it was necessary for her to add such a suffix to the little toad's name but she always did. He was rude sometimes, but generally Jaken had always been good to her and he was older than her.

"He is gone for the time being, visiting with family," Sesshomaru explained, much to Rin's surprise. She didn't know that he had family left. She did know, though, that Sesshomaru had no blood left. At times, Jaken would mention a half-breed brother he once had but the short-tempered man had gotten himself killed ages ago.

"Sesshomaru-sama," Rin cautiously began to gain his attention back, "if you don't want me here I can leave…"

"That is not necessary," he assured her before pausing for a short while then asking the question that was obviously on his mind. "Why return now, Rin?"

"I just graduated college," she began, "and I just got a job offer, a really good one, in Tokyo but… I don't know. I've always felt like something wasn't right, that something was missing, so I… I decided to come back to see you. I've missed you, Sesshomaru-sama."

She couldn't keep steady eye-contact with him while she said that, midway through her eyes had fallen to the ground. She could feel her cheeks heat up, perhaps even become pink, from that confession but it was the truth. There was no point in trying to dodge the point.

It was the feeling of his touch that got her to look back up. He had reached his hand out to cup her cheek, ever so softly. His hands were rough but she loved it. It wasn't until that moment, his skin against hers, her eyes locked with his, that she realized that she missed him _so much_.

It wasn't like her, but she did it anyway. She leaned in and up on her toes to press her lips to his. He had to see it coming the moment she started the motion, if he wanted to stop it he could have… which meant he didn't want to, didn't it? He wanted to allow it. Allow her.

Then next thing she knew her arms were wrapped around his neck before he slipped his around her waist to keep her close. For a long, beautiful, while their lips were locked. That _had_ to be a good sign.

Gradually, they parted while she opened her eyes again to see him. "Sesshomaru-sama…" She didn't know what she was going to say, but he didn't bother to allow her to finish her thought. He leaned forward again to kiss her again. That time, it was less innocent. Tentatively, he parted her lips with his tongue as if he were testing whether it would be allowed or not.

It was Sesshomaru, so of course she would permit it. It was strange, foreign even, to have another tongue explore her own but oddly nice at the same time. Having his arms around her was enough to make her content. Oh, Kami, how she missed him… in that moment, she was _so_ happy she had made the decision to return.

"Rin," Sesshomaru started after their lips parted, mostly so she could take a deep breath in. "I shouldn't…" at least that's what he thought. After everything that had happened to her when she was younger, it was highly doubtful that she would want him to go any further. But he'd be wrong.

"You should," she countered quickly while she leaned forward again to allow their lips to collide. His hands roamed through his hair as his ventured about her body to spark a pulsing sensation that she had never known. She barely noticed that he led her out of the hallway and into his chambers but did take note to the care ht took to lay her down on his futon.

He slowly, gently, pulled her shirt down her shoulders so that his lips could move from hers to her neck then below her collar line so that any mark he might make would not be visible to anyone else. Such actions had never been of interest to her… anything so intimate was beyond her grasp but with him it was different. For years, she never thought she'd _ever_ want to find herself in such a situation with anyone ever again but… it was Sesshomaru.

With him, it would be different. Utterly, completely, forever and always different. He wouldn't hurt her, never. That much she was sure of.

"Sesshomaru-sama," she gasped when his hand roamed up to one of her bosoms. He sculpted and molded her left one in his large hand. He moved his head up again so that his lips could muffle her whimpers and moans while he slid his other hand up her shirt to create a circular motion while he groped at her other breast, using his taunting thumb upon her nub. The sensation he started in her only intensified as he continued his assault.

There was a throbbing that taunted her below with every ache his actions created. It was terrible need that she had never known and one that only got worse when he pressed his hardened region to her. Willingly, she parted her legs so he could move in, whatever restraint he was trying to use faded when that occurred.

His heightened sense of smell alerted her to the scent of her arousal. It was thick in the air and tormenting his frenzied senses. "I want you, Rin."

There was a strange amount of emotion in his usually monotone voice, a profound edge of necessity in his voice didn't go by unnoticed in the least by the girl in the hazed unfamiliar pleasure the consumed her. A meek nod was her response before she found a way to whisper back, "yes, Sesshomaru-sama."

That was all the permission he required, she had to know what was coming and he was ever so eager for It as he slid off her dress and all that remained to separate their heated bodies. All worries about what _really _separated them, what would always keep them apart—his job, her past, their future—dissipated in that moment as he slid a hand up her inner thigh gently to check if she was ready for him, she was wet enough so he discarded the remainder of their clothes so he could situate himself at her entrance. He wasn't in such a reckless whirl that he didn't take time to prepare her for the first—perhaps last—time she'd be penetrated.

"Rin," he whispered in between heavy pants as he lifted one hand to grasp hers, their fingers immediately interlaced, "I have missed you."

"Sesshomaru-sama," she murmured back with pinked, flustered, cheeks as her weary hazels moved about his eyes. She _really_ wanted him, too, whether that was wrong or right at that moment she didn't care—he wasn't one of those horrid men that had taken something from her so long ago. He was the man that changed everything. That made her life better.

That gave her a life again. That helped heal her… that tended to her when she was at her weakest moments. She nodded her head, giving him the permission he had paused to seek, before he bent down to kiss her soothingly right as he pushed into her.

She gasped as she clenched her eyes closed, it was far different to have him inside of her—someone she cared for, someone she loved. Tenderly, caringly, he began his slow, shallow, thrusts into her. He watched her intently as he tried to keep control of himself and not let the beast in him gain power, he couldn't pound into relentlessly like he yearned to do. Gradually she relaxed, her features, her breath, and even her inner walls within.

"Rin," he groaned, it was fairly difficult for him to speak when she felt so wondrous around him. All his built of desires were finally being released and she felt almost too good around him. Oh… how he had missed her. For years, decades, centuries, before her he had lived alone—well, with Jaken—and never cared. It was fine. His life was good but… then she came in and then left.

She showed him what he was missing.

"Are you… alright?"

"Yes," she replied as she lifted her free hand up to grasp onto his neck and pull him down to kiss her once more. He picked up his pace then and began to thrust deeper into her to mimic the intensity of their kiss. Their hands parted so hers could wrap around him while his kept him propped above her.

Though it was hard to do, he focused on pleasing her more so than himself. He loved every second of their merger, particularly when she began to move her hips along with him. He muffled a moan in her mouth, even if his mind was slowly fading away from reality and up to nirvana he knew better than to be too noisy and she did, too. Gasps, pants, and minute moans were all that could be openly expressed as they collided together, his thrusts in over and over again were met with her straddles.

He let his lips fall to her collarbone so that he could groan greedy against her skin when a series of ripples cascaded throughout her, his hands clenched the sheets as he continued to pound in only to heighten his own pleasure more and more. She arched her body to meet each assault until the most divine of feelings exploded from below to wash over all of her. He let her have an open, rather loud, cry of delight at that point as he worked towards his own release that brought him an unrivaled amount of satisfaction as he spilled out within her.

Whether he'd do right by her later or not, she was his and they both knew it while they tried their best to regain their breaths and shake off the aftershocks.

* * *

**oooOoOooo**

* * *

It took time to get her breath back, to let her body settle down, and then turn onto her side to look at Sesshomaru. She smiled, it was strange, she really hadn't expected that to happen and surely not right away but… it did. Not a single bit of her regretted it.

Even after all the time apart, she knew she still loved him. She started to fall in love with him the moment he took her in, falling even more so the first time he killed for her, and then… it hit her like a semi-truck. No one had ever treated her so kindly in all her life. No one cared for her like he had… no one did so much for her as he had.

"Sesshomaru-sama," she started, cautiously, which got his attention to turn over to her.

"Rin," he replied. "It was… strange to see you at my door. You look… different."

"Different in a good way?"

"Older, you look grown up," he answered simply.

"It has been four years," she countered with a small shrug of her shoulders as she propped herself up on her arms. "I… missed you all that time."

"As I did you," he assured her while he reached out to place his hand on her arm, "Rin… that job in Tokyo, are you taking it?"

She bit her bottom lip as she brown eyes shifted to the ground, "Tokyo is far from here…"

"Yes, it is."

"But," she started, "I can't stay here, either. Everyone thinks I am your niece here… they would think it was incest what we are doing."

"That is true, as well," he hadn't considered that in the least while he leaned back to close his eyes once more.

"But I would rather us… not be apart anymore," she confessed, "I have missed you too much."

"Then there is a simple solution here. Take the job in Tokyo and I will move there as well."

"And leave the manor?" she shook her head lightly at that. "You love it here… it's quiet and private. You won't get that in Tokyo."

"I could do for a change," he assured her. "There is no reason for me to get rid of this place, either. If I ever decide to return then I will."

"Sesshomaru-sama," she slowly started as she lied down some more. "There is one more thing… your profession…"

"I have been on a break from that for over a year now. I have enough money not to work for a long, long time if I so wish for it." The thrill of the job didn't do him any good anymore. That darkness within him that begged for him to do it… was countered by an ache of missing that had been left in his life. Never in all his years had he bothered with a mortal girl but Rin was different.

Rin was something more.

"Then… that's that," she whispered as she moved over to rest her head against his chest and shut her eyes. The one constant in her life, the one thing that she knew she could always rely on, the one person that would always support her… was Sesshomaru. That she knew since she was fifteen.

That would be confirmed for her time and time again until the day she died.

Finally, she was freed from the darkness just as she could give a light to her lord's life so that a happily ever after could be theirs.

* * *

**_A/N_**_: I know I said I probably wouldn't be updating this week but I got some free time to finish this story up. (I know I also said it'd be nine chapters but eight did it just fine). So here's an Xmas present, the end of this story._

_I'm thinking about writing another RinSess story, too. It's just writing Sesshomaru in character can be difficult. I don't want to mess him up._


End file.
